Her Life
by poisonesse
Summary: Valkyrie was tired of having to live with herself, knowing what her true name was. So she left Haggard, left her friends and family, and moved to California to start a new life- of course, four years later, she's expected to come back. Completed.
1. Four Years Later

**Her Life. **

**Summary: Valkyrie has had enough. She is sixteen years old, and she hates that she will be Darquesse, the one to kill the world, so she leaves her home, and Skulduggery, behind and heads for America to start over. When, four years later, she needs to return to her home town of Haggard to investigate a string of mysterious events with her new magical friends, she ends up finding more than she bargains for. Will she be able to keep Darquesse away this time, or will her true nature come out?  
>Enjoy! :) <strong>

**Chapter 1. **

Valkyrie Cain walked silently along the pavement, her eyes darting to look at the man to her left every now and then. It was night-time in California, yet it was still warm. Her dark hair was tied into a high ponytail that bounced as she walked and her mouth was curved into a sly smile that seemed to constantly be on her lovely face. She moved her gaze from the man on her left to the road in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a shadow dart behind a small building, followed by another.

'Blade.' she murmured. 'Blade, did you see that?'

Blade Koldo glanced at Valkyrie, his best friend and partner in crime. He raised an eyebrow. 'See what?'

She frowned. 'Be alert.' she scolded, moving her hand to her coat pocket and taking out her black Necromancy ring. After leaving Ireland four years ago, Valkyrie only ever used her Necromancer powers when she was fighting. And that happened a lot.

Blade smirked at her. 'Getting all scared by a shadow?' he teased, but he took out his trademark silver daggers anyway.

She rolled her eyes. 'Not scared. I'm never scared.'

They quickened their walking pace and approached the small building that Valkyrie had seen the figures run to. She had her hand on her staff, on the inside of her long black jacket, though she didn't take it out just yet. She always fought with her trusty golden staff nowadays- she was as skilled with it as Blade was with his knives. There was a reason, after all, that he chose the name he did.

They neared the corner of the building slowly, weapons now at the ready. Valkyrie nodded to Blade, and they silently jumped round the corner of the building. Valkyrie whipped her staff out and held herself in her attack stance, only to let it droop when she recognised the two figures.

'You two?' she asked, unable to help the disappointment laced into her voice. Damn, she had actually been looking forward to a good fight. 'What are _you _doing here?'

Vaurien Scapegrace and his 'servant', Thrasher, took a step back, glaring at her.

'You shall address the Zombie King as he deserves!' Thrasher screeched, pointing a not-so-threatening finger at her.

She rolled her eyes. 'I just did, idiot. Why are you two here?' she paused, looked at them both. '_How _are you two here? I thought zombies were supposed to decompose after, like, a year.'

She had picked up an American accent during her stay in California, but her voice still held some of its Irish twang.

Blade looked between Valkyrie and the two zombies. 'You know these guys?' he asked Valkyrie incredulously.

She hesitated. 'Know, yes. Like, _no_.'

He nodded. 'Understood.' he said, still holding his knives in a position that meant he was ready to throw them at the pair if they did anything wrong.

Scapegrace hesitated. 'Well, I don't know how exactly I'm here.' he said slowly, then snarled at her. 'But what matters is that I am, and now that I have tracked you down, I am going to kill you like I meant to all those years ago!'

Valkyrie chuckled, then stopped at Thrasher's wail of protest. 'Oh, you're being serious?'

Blade smiled at the exchange. He was only a year younger than Valkyrie, but he always found himself looking up to her and her calm composure whenever she was faced with a difficult situation. It was one of the many things he'd always admired about her.

Scapegrace lunged at Valkyrie, who calmly stepped to the side, causing the zombie to go crashing to the ground. Valkyrie held her staff against his back, keeping him on the floor.

'That the best you got?' she taunted with a cruel smirk on her face.

Scapegrace growled and tried to leap to his feet, but Valkyrie only pressed her staff harder against his back, causing him to flop helplessly against the floor.

'Please don't try that again.' she warned.

Thrasher shrieked and tried to move forward and throw a punch at Valkyrie, but Blade stuck his foot out, tripping the middle-aged zombie with what looked to be a single-digit IQ.

'So, you just came here to kill me?' Valkyrie demanded. 'Is that it? No other ulterior motive?'

Scapegrace hesitated. 'That's about it.'

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow and looked at Blade. 'Would you look at that,' she smiled. 'I feel wanted.'

Scapegrace snarled at her again and kicked his legs about. 'Thrasher!' he shouted. 'Help me up, you goon!'

'Yes, sir.' Thrasher mumbled, still getting to his feet. Zombies certainly weren't the most agile creatures one could encounter.

'Now!' Scapegrace snapped.

'I wouldn't bother.' Valkyrie said. 'What you _are_ going to do, though, is give us one good reason why we shouldn't kill you right now.'

Scapegrace froze in his movements, glaring up at her. 'You wouldn't.' he spat.

She chuckled. 'Believe me, I would. As endearing and entertaining as your failed murder attempts are to me, I would be doing the world a favour by killing you. It would leave two less idiots to wander the earth.'

'We're not idiots!' Scapegrace protested. 'Could you get that stick off my back? It hurts.'

'No.'

Blade frowned at the two zombies on the floor. 'I hadn't encountered any zombies before now, and I have to say, you're both making them seem rather pathetic.'

Thrasher wailed again.

'Oh, shut up.' Scapegrace snarled, then sighed. 'Would you _please_ let me up? This position hurts. I promise I won't kill you.'

'I know you won't.' Valkyrie murmured. 'But will you try to?'

'No.' Scapegrace muttered.

Valkyrie hesitated before shrugging and lifting her staff from Scapegrace's back. He sprang to his feet surprisingly quickly and growled at her, lunging for her throat. Of course, she hadn't just been expecting him to stand there innocently- she was prepared for an attack, like she always was.

She swung her fist and caught him in the jaw, knocking him back. He yelped and flailed his arms out, running at her. Valkyrie let him knock her to the ground, and when he did, she wrapped her legs around his waist and flipped him so she was straddling him, pinning him to the ground. She gripped his arms tightly, holding them to the ground.

She heard a cry of pain and looked over at Blade to see he was beating Thrasher up. It wasn't surprising. He wasn't very strong. Blade grabbed Thrasher's arm and twisted it painfully behind his back so he couldn't move without probably breaking his arm off.

'I thought you weren't going to try anything.' Valkyrie said with narrowed eyes.

Scapegrace whimpered.

**HL**

Valkyrie sipped her tea delicately, staring at the duck-egg blue wall in front of her.

'What did you do with the idiotic zombies?' a curious voice asked from the doorway, and she glanced up, momentarily startled. She smiled at Blade.

'I didn't kill them, if that's what you're wondering.' she shrugged, setting her teacup down on the coffee table and relaxing back into the couch of the apartment she shared with her magical friends.

'So, what, you just sent them away with a warning?' Blade raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head, amused. 'I beat them up. They're in the bathroom right now, if you'd care to look. Any suggestions on what I should do with them?'

Blade laughed. 'Unfortunately, no. I'll let you know if I come up with anything, though.'

She chuckled. 'When will the others get home from training?'

Blade shrugged. 'Soon, I guess.' he stared at her. 'You have disgusting-looking substances on your face, you know.'

Her eyes widened and she leapt to her feet. 'What?'

'Your face is covered in mud and blood.' he explained, smirking.

She shrieked and ran to the mirror on the wall. It confirmed her fears and she scrunched her face up. 'Ew.' she muttered. 'I have zombie blood on me. That is disgusting.'

'Tell me about it.' Blade remarked, causing her to shoot him a sharp glare before she grabbed a flannel from by the sink and proceeded to try scrub her face clean.

'Careful you don't move your facial features around.' Blade said, sitting gracefully on the sofa.

'I've decided.' Valkyrie murmured when she was done scrubbing. 'I'm going to kill Scapegrace and Thrasher after all. You can help. It'll be fun. What do you say?'

Blade chuckled and opened his mouth to retort when the front door burst open. They both got to their feet immediately, but visibly relaxed when they saw who it was.  
>It was just their roommates, who also happened to be their friends and fighting partners. The group consisted of sixteen year-old Willow Arawn, eighteen year-old Hazel Lynd, twenty year-old Hades Flame and seventeen year-old Maddox Fever.<p>

'Hey, guys.' Valkyrie greeted. Willow flashed her a warm smile in return.

'Hey, Val, Blade.' she grinned. 'Beat anyone up?'

'Duh.' Valkyrie rolled her eyes playfully. 'How can you tell?'

'All the gunk on your face is a tell-tale clue.' Hades remarked, winking at her. 'Is that tea that I see on the table?'

'It is.' Blade said. He was the brother of Hades, much to his own dismay. This was, after all, the boy who decided to name himself after the God of the Underworld.

'Awesome. I want some.' Hades smirked and snatched the teacup from the table, ignoring Valkyrie's shout of protest.

'Idiot.' she grumbled unhappily, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him with chocolate brown eyes.

'How was training?' Blade asked, steering the conversation away from the oncoming argument between Valkyrie and his older brother.

'It was all right.' Willow shrugged, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder. 'I managed to beat up Hazel, so I'm gonna be in a good mood for the next twenty four hours.'

'Hey!' Hazel protested. 'That wasn't fair! You used air manipulation in a fist fight, which means you cheated, and cheating is wrong, as we all know.'

Willow stuck her tongue out at Hazel and turned to Valkyrie. 'Who did _you _beat up tonight, and what is that god-awful smell?' she wrinkled her nose in the final sentence.

Valkyrie smiled. 'I beat up two zombies, and they're currently residing in the bathroom. That'll be the smell.'

Maddox frowned. 'Why are they in the bathroom?'

'Because I'm still figuring out what to do with them.' Valkyrie bit her lip. 'I know them, you see. They were constantly trying to kill me back in Haggard. Naturally, they never succeeded. It looks like they followed me here for another try, and failed again. I didn't have the heart to kill them- they're like little puppies.'

Hazel chuckled. 'Puppies with bits of flesh falling off.'

Maddox waved a hand, collapsing onto the couch. 'Just send them back to Ireland or something.'

Valkyrie snorted, rather unattractively. 'You want me to put two murderous zombies on a plane back to Ireland, cross my fingers and pray that they won't eat anyone along the way? Not bloody likely.'

'I never really understood the use of the word _bloody _in a sentence. It just doesn't make sense.' Hades mused, taking a gulp of Valkyrie's tea and then wincing. 'Jesus, Val, this is _way_ too sweet.'

'Make your own if you don't like mine, then.' she suggested with a sweet smile.

He made a face at her and put the cup back on the table.

A small gasp then came from Willow. 'Oh!' she muttered. 'That reminds me. I completely forgot- I got a phone call earlier from a man called Erskine Ravel-'

She was cut off by Hades. 'Who?' he frowned.

Willow shot him a glare. 'Did I stutter? Erskine Ravel. He's the Grand Mage of the Irish Sanctuary in Roarhaven. He is hot as hell. Anyway, as I was saying. He called me and told me there's been a chain of mysterious, rather violent deaths in Haggard. He says he has his best detective on the case, but that's apparently not enough. He needs back up.'

Valkyrie frowned at the mention of Ravel. 'So he called you?'

Willow looked at her. 'Yes. Why? Is that strange?'

Valkyrie shook her head quickly. 'No, you're perfectly capable, I'm sure. It's just- why would he send out a sixteen year old girl?'

Willow smiled a small smile. 'That's the thing. He didn't just ask for me- he asked for all of us. He's apparently heard about how good our work for the American Sanctuary is, and he asked for us. Isn't that great?' then she paused and looked apologetically at Valkyrie. 'I know you don't want to tell us what happened in Ireland, and you don't have to, but it would be nice to know. Before we go back there.'

'Wait, we're going?' Blade asked, exchanging a worried look with Valkyrie and Hades. The three of them were the oldest in the group, and therefore were seen as the mentors to the others. 'You should have told us immediately, we could have made a group decision-'

'No.' Valkyrie cut him off. 'We're not going. Or at least, _I'm _not. I just can't.' she looked at the group. 'I hope you understand.'

'Val...' Blade looked at her. 'Come on, you have to come. You're the leader here, remember? We won't be able to cope without you.'

'Yes, you will.' she said firmly.

'No way are you backing out of this.' Hades said to her, his green eyes narrowing.

Valkyrie sighed. 'I don't want to go back to Ireland- I have a past there, and I have a feeling that Erskine Ravel's "best detective" might be a part of that past.'

Yes, she had her suspicions that Skulduggery Pleasant might be working on the case, and she didn't want to face him yet. No way. She wouldn't know what to do.

'Please?' Willow asked, widening her eyes purposely and allowing her lower lip to tremble. Ah, the puppy dog eyes- for someone as adorable and pixie-like as Willow, it worked wonders. Valkyrie felt her will start to crumble as she looked at the younger girl's big blue eyes.

'Don't give me that look.' she murmured, but then she sighed and said, 'Fine, I'll go if I must. But I warn you now, I am going to sulk all the way there.'

Everyone let out a little cheer, even the always-sullen Hazel.

'Then it's settled!' Willow grinned happily. 'We're going to Ireland!'

**A/N: What do you think? Did you like it? I hope you did, because I'm going to keep writing it.  
>Feel free to review, but please, don't flame! I prefer constructive criticism. And this is my first Skulduggery Pleasant fic, so go easy on me.<br>There will be further explanation about Valkyrie's leaving Ireland in the next chapter, which shall come soon. I like writing this fic already! :D  
>Here's the meanings of some of the names, in case any of that confused you:<br>Willow Arawn: Willow, obviously, is just the pretty name. Arawn was the King of the Otherworld in mythology, and I liked the name, so yes. Willow Arawn was born.  
>Hazel Lynd: Again, just a pretty name. No meaning, really.<br>Blade Koldo: Blade is, you know, the word. Because his weapon is a pair of throwing knives. Koldo means 'Famous Warrior'. Blade Kaldo.  
>Hades Flame: Hades, in Greek mythology, was the God of the Underworld- basically the ruler of hell. Don't worry, my Hades isn't evil. Flame is just.. flame. Hades Flame.<br>Maddox Fever: Maddox is, a) a super cool name. b) a name with the meaning, "great gift". Fever is just a random thing that I thought would go well as the chosen surname. Maddox Fever.  
>Hope you like the names- it took me forever to pick them, simple as they are. :')<br>The reunion will be in, like, two or three chapters, so don't worry about that.  
>Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget that review.<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	2. Leaving America

**Chapter 2. **

****Flashback****

_A sixteen year-old Valkyrie paced her bedroom, running a hand through her long dark hair for the dozenth time. She held her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed mindlessly, worry gnawing at her mind. _

_It had been two weeks since she'd accidentally become Darquesse, murdered countless sorcerers, and regret still ate away at her. She knew, of course, that it couldn't have been prevented- it wasn't even her fault, not really... _

_Okay, so maybe it was. She didn't have to kill all those people, after all. Even if it did kill the remnants inside of them. _

_But what made her most worried was that, if they hadn't stopped her in time, she would have killed Tanith and Skulduggery, too. That fact scared her- no, it _terrified_ her. She had nightmares in which she had to watch herself killing everyone she loved, and she had a feeling that the nightmares were only a weak shadow of what was to come. _

_Of what was to come... unless the stopped it. She'd had her name sealed, yes, but that hadn't done anything. That had only made her feel guiltier, because she now knew that anything she did as Darquesse was _her _decision, and no one else's. _

_She needed to do more. She had considered giving up magic, of course- but she was much, much too selfish to do that. She just couldn't let go of her powers. Even if she wanted to. _

_She'd also considered killing herself. That was a much more effective way to get rid of Darquesse, but, as he'd told her countless times, Skulduggery wouldn't allow it. If the others knew, he said, they wouldn't allow it, either. _

_Maybe if she moved towns, got away from the people she loved the most, she could start over. It wasn't likely that it would prevent her from becoming Darquesse when the time came, but she could always cross her fingers and hope for the best. _

_Of course, that would mean leaving everybody behind. Skulduggery, Fletcher, Ghastly... her parents. She would leave the reflection with them- they would never know she was even gone. But then they would be stuck with a false child who felt no emotion toward them. _

_But, she thought firmly, it was the only option, apart from explaining everything. And the latter was something that she certainly didn't want to do. _

_So, she would let the reflection officially take her place. That much was settled. _

_But how would she explain it to Skulduggery and the others? She couldn't tell them face to face, obviously. She just knew they would try and get her to stay. And she couldn't allow them to persuade her to change her mind- she just couldn't. She had decided now, and she was going to leave town. Go somewhere else- maybe America. Yes, America was good choice- far away, and the people there spoke English. She'd always wanted to go to America. _

_After a long period of indecision, Valkyrie decided that she would simply leave a note to Skulduggery and the others in Ghastly's shop. Or would they find it there? Maybe if she placed it in her Uncle Gordon's house, instead. Or her bedroom- yes, her bedroom. That would be the first place they would come looking for her, wouldn't it? It was the safest option. _

_Valkyrie sighed and turned to her mirror. She tapped it lightly, and an exact replica of herself emerged from the other side. The same dark hair, the same dark eyes, the same soft features. _

_'You are to take over my life.' she said, her voice cracking, to her dismay, 'so be good to my parents, treat them the way they deserve to be treated. Try to avoid Skulduggery and the others, Tanith included.' _

_The reflection nodded. 'Are you going somewhere?' _

_Valkyrie knew that it wasn't normal for the reflection to be curious, but she had come to accept that it was the way it was. In fact, it was probably a good thing that it was more emotive than your average reflection- it would make her a more believable daughter, and big sister. _

_She hoped that her little sister would be okay. _

_Valkyrie just nodded at the reflection. 'And, hopefully, I'm never coming back.' _

_'Because of the Darquesse thing?' _

_'Yes, because of the Darquesse thing.' Valkyrie snapped. 'You are not to tell anyone where I've gone, even if you ever find out. Do you understand my orders?' _

_It nodded again. 'I will take over your life.' _

_Valkyrie felt hot tears sting her eyes. This was it, she realized. She had to go today, or she would never get around to doing it. She was probably never going to see her parents or her friends again. _

_'That's all I can ask.' she said softly to her reflection. _

_She found a pen and a sheet of paper amongst the mess that was in her room, and she immediately got down to writing a suitable note. She had to cross out a few lines. _

Dear Skulduggery and friends,  
>I'm leaving. Skulduggery, you know why. If you ever get that stupid remnant out of Tanith, she'll know why, too.<br>The reflection is going to take over my life, and by the time you're reading this, I'll already be long gone. Don't worry, I won't come back, as long as I can help it. Try to get on without me- I know it'll be difficult, since I'm so amazing, but I'm sure you'll find a way to manage.  
>Fletcher, I'm so sorry that I have to do this, and that you don't even know why. Just know that it's better this way, okay? Less people will get hurt... if that makes sense.<br>Don't bother looking for me. Don't bother asking the reflection, either- it's not going to tell you.  
>Oh, and Fletcher- if you <em>dare<em> do anything with the reflection that you're supposed to do with me, then I will hunt you down, kill you in your sleep, and then disappear again. Last Teleporter or not.  
>Thanks for everything, all of you. These have been the best four years of my life.<br>I love you all.  
>Valkyrie.<p>

There, _she thought, _short, sweet and to the point.

_There were a few tear marks on the page, but Valkyrie didn't bother to wipe them away. She simply placed the note on her bedside table, putting the corner under the weight of her lamp so it didn't blow away when the window opened. _

_She hoped her parents wouldn't find it. _

_'Reflection... make sure my parents don't see this letter, okay?' she said to the reflection, just in case. _

_'Okay.' it nodded, then looked at her. 'Are you sure you want to do this?' _

_'Positive.' Valkyrie nodded. _

_'Goodbye.' the reflection said simply. _

_'Good... goodbye.' she smiled softly, took one last look at her room, and then jumped out her window. _

_America, get ready- Valkyrie Cain is coming. _

****End Flashback** **

Valkyrie's eyes flew open.

It was a dream. Just a dream.

Well... it was more of a memory. No doubt because of the impending trip to Ireland. She sighed, rolling over onto her left side so she was facing the wall. She was tired. She just wanted to sleep peacefully, without any painful or scary dreams- was that really too much to ask?

She was twenty years old now. She was an expert fighter, skilled at both Necromancy and Elemental magic. At least, until her Surge came- then she would have to choose one power, and she was almost certain she would choose to be an Elemental mage. There was just something cool about being able to summon fire at will.

Valkyrie smiled to herself when she thought about the first time she had been able to summon a flame. She had been so young, so naive and full of childish excitement. But she had never been a child, not really. She'd always been remarkably mature for her age.

And she had definitely grown up more. She was no longer just a pretty teenage girl who could defeat any enemy within her range- even Valkyrie herself could admit that she was a lot more than that now. Her features had matured greatly. She was beautiful, as she had been told quite a few times. Her arms and legs were lean and muscled, her body slim yet shapely. She was stronger than your average woman and her long legs could carry her much faster than any of the others in her group.

Ah, her group. Valkyrie had grown to love them all like siblings. At one point she had had a slight crush on the ever-handsome Blade, but she got over that quickly, and the two were now best friends and were almost inseparable. She and Hades had an almost love-hate relationship going on; they loved to bicker. But it was mostly over pointless, silly things- like tonight, when Hades had stolen Valkyrie's tea.

Willow was the youngest of the group, and was the last to become a part of it. She had appeared, at first, as an innocent victim who needed to be saved, but had proved that she was much more than that when she defeated three sorcerers without any help from us. She had an excellent right hook. She was an Adept, and she was able to shift her centre of gravity so she can run up walls and across ceilings... much like Tanith can, except for one thing; Willow was able to do this to other people, too. It was very useful, to say the least. She hadn't yet displayed any other abilities, but Valkyrie had a feeling there were more to come.

Hades was also an Adept, trained in the art of Symbol magic. He wasn't as good as China Sorrows, perhaps, but he was still very good.

Blade was an Elemental, like myself. He was great, but he preferred hand-to-hand combat. He was good at that, too.

Hazel was an Elemental, too. She liked to keep to herself, but she was great friends with both Valkyrie and Willow. She loved using her water abilities- it was one of the things that made her smile, and Valkyrie loved to see Hazel smile. It lit up her whole face.

They had all been hired by the American Sanctuary and were seen as fine agents, although many mages disliked that such 'young' people could be seen as better than them.

Valkyrie didn't care about all that, though; she just enjoyed helping people. Mainly because it was a different thing to killing people, to killing the world.

She shut her eyes and tried to focus on sleeping- and hopefully without nightmares this time. She knew it was wishful thinking to hope for a full night's sleep without nightmares, but she was optimistic at the best of times.

She always had been.

**HL**

Ghastly Bespoke strode briskly through the halls of the Irish Sanctuary. He needed to speak to Erskine Ravel, and he needed to speak to him now.

'Ravel.' he said upon entering the Grand Mage's office. Erskine looked up at him and half-smiled, half-sighed.

'Ghastly.' he nodded in greeting. 'What's up?'

He looked tired, Ghastly noted. He knew the feeling. Being an Elder was more hard work than he'd been expecting, so he couldn't even imagine the exhaustion and stress Erskine was feeling.

'What's this I hear about you hiring a group of young detectives for the murder case without even consulting me or Skulduggery?' Ghastly demanded.

Erskine faltered. 'Oh.' he said. 'That.'

'Yes, that.' Ghastly narrowed his eyes. 'Who are they?'

The Grand Mage suddenly looked nervous. 'Oh, you know- just some... people. They're the best I could get, and they were recommended by the American Sanctuary in California.'

'Why do I get the feeling that you don't want to tell me who they are?'

'Because I don't.'

'Why not?'

Erskine smirked. 'It's a surprise?'

Ghastly sighed. 'Ravel, just hell me who the damn detectives are.'

He shook his head. 'I have work to do, Ghastly. But if you must know, they're arriving tomorrow. You can see for yourself then.'

'Why not now?'

'Because I have a feeling you might set me on fire for my choice.'

'I take it it's a bad choice, then.'

'Not bad.' Erskine protested. 'Just... unexpected.'

'Will Skulduggery be happy with it?'

'The revelation could go either way.'

Ghastly rolled his eyes. 'Don't make him angry, Ravel, you know how he gets. He hasn't been the same since... since Val left.'

Erskine suddenly looked nervous again. 'I doubt he'll get angry with my choice.'

'You _doubt_?' Ghastly frowned. 'Why won't you tell me who... is it someone we know?'

'Yes.' Erskine said sheepishly, looking down. 'You all know her very well.'

Ghastly's eyes narrowed again, surprise making him frown. 'It's Valkyrie, isn't it?'

Erskine looked up. 'How did you guess?'

'You made it fairly obvious.'

'Don't tell Skul yet- I don't know how he'll take it.'

'So we just lie to him? That'll make him even more angry.'

'So you think he will be angry?'

'He probably will.'

'Damn.' Erskine muttered, picking up a selection of papers and stacking them neatly on the edge of his desk. 'Just leave him to find out tomorrow.'

'Who else is she coming with?'

'A group of sorcerers- you may have heard of them.'

'They're American?'

'Yes.'

'Then I probably haven't. It's been a few years since I left my shop to check up on world events, Ravel, you know how it is.'

He nodded. 'I do.' he glanced at Ghastly, who was now slowly walking out of the door. 'Goodnight, Ghastly.'

He looked back. 'Goodnight, Erskine.'

**HL**

'Ugh.' Valkyrie grunted as she hauled her suitcase onto her bed.

Willow frowned at her. 'Are you sure you want to pack that much stuff?' she asked wearily, picking up her own much smaller suitcase. Actually, it was more of a briefcase- Valkyrie envied how much lighter it looked than her own bulky bag.

'I just have my fighting clothes and some more casual outfits.' she paused. 'And my staff, and a gun, and my ring.'

'What else?' Willow asked, rolling her eyes.

Valkyrie smiled innocently. 'Basic necessities.'

'Take the laptop and CD's out. And if you're even thinking of keeping that pile of books in there...'

Valkyrie pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and looking out the window. It was early morning and she had just finished packing. Maybe Willow was right- she could always buy new books and CD's in Dublin.

She sighed at the thought of returning to her home. Half of her was dreading the trip, yet the other half was excited beyond belief.

They had decided to take Scapegrace and Thrasher with them back to Dublin. It was the best they could come up with- apart from, of course, Hades and Blade's suggestion to kill the pair of idiotic zombies. But Valkyrie didn't want to kill them, not really- they were honestly like puppies to her. And plus, she wanted to find out how they had skipped past decomposition and continued to live- or un-live, whatever the hell it was they were doing- as zombies.

She zipped open her suitcase and pulled out the twelve CD's and nine books she had packed, followed by the Notebook laptop. She zipped her case back up and was relieved to find that it was much lighter.

Not that she would actually have a problem carrying it, regardless of the weight. But she preferred to be as comfortable as possible on plane trips, especially on ones you don't even want to go on.

She glanced down wearily at her outfit, which consisted of short denim shorts and a stripy blue tank top. She had wanted everyone to wear their tough fighting gear, made especially for them by the best tailor available at the American sanctuary, but Blade had argued that it would look suspicious. They would, after all, be a group of young people wearing dark clothes with big suitcases. So she had reluctantly agreed to wear something less conspicuous, and had wrapped up her weapons in her special coat so they wouldn't make the weapon detector at the airport beep.

Hades interrupted her thoughts by popping his head round the door, his dark hair ruffled and messy as usual. He and his brother had the same dark hair and green eyes, and Valkyrie had to admit, it looked good on both of them. But Hades was still an arrogant, cocky asshole, no matter what he looked like.

In Valkyrie's opinion, at least.

'You two ready? Because we're waiting for you.' he informed them, cocking his head to the side as he ran his eyes over Valkyrie. 'Looking good, Val.'

She scowled. 'Shut up. We're coming now.'

He grinned at them and left, leaving the door open. Valkyrie turned round and looked at her bedroom- how long would it be until she would see it again? She loved her apartment, loved the people she shared it with. It was horrible, having to leave yet another home behind.

But it couldn't be for that long, surely. They would solve the case and return to California, and things would go on as normal... right?

Valkyrie sighed and shook the thoughts away, turning to Willow with a tight smile. 'Let's go.' she said.

**HL**

They had gotten through security with no problem, and were now heading to their plane, Scapegrace and Thrasher being led with them by Cleavers. The pair were bound by shackles and hadn't stopped grumbling through the whole journey here. Valkyrie had learned that it was best to ignore them.

Their travel was a private jet provided by the Sanctuary, and they were the only people who would be boarding. Valkyrie was relieved at this- she wasn't in any kind of mood to make small talk with a stranger sat next to her in a plane.

'I've never been in a plane before.' Willow murmured, and Valkyrie looked at the younger girl in surprise.

'Really?' she asked, a grin slowly forming on her face when Willow nodded solemnly. The poor girl looked frightened. 'Don't worry, you'll love it. Especially this plane- the flight attendants are always idiots. It's remarkably fun to throw peanuts at them.'

This caused Willow to laugh, and she smiled at the sixteen year-old whom she thought of as a sister and turned back to the plane, her eyes narrowed. This had been the exact plane she had came here on, and she had a feeling that Saxon Ridge, the Grand Mage at the American Sanctuary, hadn't arranged this particular plane by accident.

Blade caught her staring and edger closer to her as the others chattered excitedly.

'You okay?' he asked her, concern lacing his voice.

She smiled tightly and nodded. 'It's just... you know, it's been four whole years since I was last even anywhere near Ireland, and now we're going right back to Dublin. It's just so-'

'Overwhelming?' Blade offered.

She chuckled. 'Overwhelming, yes.' her expression then turned stern as she looked at him. 'But don't think that a vacation means that you guys will get to stop in your training for any amount of time. If anything, you'll have to work harder.'

Blade grinned and mock-saluted her. 'Aye aye, captain.'

She rolled her dark eyes but flashed him a grin. 'I'm being serious.' then she sighed. 'If it helps, I know some great fighters who may or may not be able to train you more seriously. I have a feeling that Foster Mathis may have been lacking in the Trainer department.'

Foster Mathis was the one who taught the group- minus Valkyrie, who only taught herself- how to fight. He was good, but Valkyrie knew that he was nowhere near as good as Skulduggery or Tanith, or even Ghastly. No, her American friends would do much better learning from one of those three... if they accepted that she was back.

Would they? They had to, didn't they? Was Tanith even a part of the group still? Had Ghastly and Skulduggery managed to get the remnant out of her in time?

Valkyrie bit her lip in worry, not letting her expression shift in any other way. She was an expert at that- at hiding her emotions, appearing as cold and hard as a stone. Blade said it was bad for her. She knew different.

'What's wrong with Mathis?'

'He isn't very good, is he?'

'Isn't he?'

'Compare his skills to mine. Go on, do it.'

There was a pause before Blade chuckled. 'I suppose.'

'Val, come on. We can get on now.' Hazel said, giving Valkyrie a genuine and rare smile. Valkyrie returned the smile half-heartedly and let the rest of them go on in front of her so she was the last to get on- apart from Thrasher and Scapegrace. But, she thought, they don't really count as people, do they?

'Goodbye, America.' she whispered, before turning and going to her seat next to Blade.

**A/N: Phew, second chapter up. :) Did you like it?  
>Thank you for my current amount of three whole reviews! :D I'm so happpy! Special mention for my first reviewers:<br>MewFullMoon  
>Kissedangelzxxx<br>'cant login'  
>Thank you for taking the time to review! :D<br>Feel free to follow their lead, anyone. ;) Hint hint.  
>If you want to see what the characters look like to me, visit my profile for the links! If you already have an image for them that you'd like to keep, I suggest you don't look. :') Some may not agree with my choices.<br>Thanks for reading and stuff, hope you enjoyed the chapter! More to come soon.  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	3. Plane Journey

**Chapter 3. **

Valkyrie glared at Scapegrace, cocking her head to the side. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard me!' he screeched. 'Let me off this plane right, right now!'

She smiled a thin smile. 'As much as I would love to open the plane doors and let you drop, my dear Vaurien, I need you to return to Ireland. Maybe I can get Erskine to arrest you, if he's still the Grand Mage- is he?'

Scapegrace blinked once, twice, then frowned. 'Well, yes, he is, but- damn you! At least let me go to the bathroom!'

'You're a zombie. I'm quite sure that _isn't _something you need to do.'

He faltered. 'I mean, I hate flying. I feel sick.'

She frowned at him. 'Is that even possible?'

'Apparently so.'

'Well, then, I'm afraid you're going to have to live with it. But be a dear and try not to vomit on my shoes.'

He glowered at her and said nothing.

'You will let the Zombie King do as he pleases!' came an annoyingly high pitched shriek from the seat behind Valkyrie, and she didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that it came from Thrasher.

She sighed, glancing at Blade. He was watching the argument with increasing amusement, and had said nothing yet.

'Care to add anything, Blade?' she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head, smirking. 'Well, apart from that you probably _should _let him go to the bathroom. He's looking kind of green.'

She shrugged. 'He's a zombie. I'm pretty sure they _always _look green.'

'Yeah, well, just in case.' Scapegrace pleaded, turning her attention back to him. 'Please? I won't kill the bathroom attendant or anything.'

'Obviously.' Valkyrie muttered. 'You have five minutes. Go now.'

Scapegrace said nothing more and ran, shackles and all, to the tiny cubicle that was built into the plane.

'He is disgusting.' Hazel commented from the seat in front of Valkyrie.

'Tell me about it.' Valkyrie murmured, smiling slightly. She then turned to Willow, in the seat next to her, in the other aisle. 'How are you? Still scared?'

Willow grinned. 'Not any more. The clouds are so pretty.'

'They are.' Valkyrie agreed.

They had been in the plane for two hours so far, and they were due to land at Dublin airport in around an hour and a half.

'You're prettier.' a husky voice whispered in her ear, and she let out an undignified shriek, whirling around. She came face to face with Hades, who was clutching his stomach having fallen back in his seat with laughter.

She glared at him, then turned to Blade. 'Was that him?'

Her best friend nodded. 'He leaned over and whispered in your ear. Then you screamed, and he started laughing.' he smiled a lopsided smile. 'It _was_ pretty funny.'

'I did not scream.' Valkyrie said indignantly.

'Yes you did.' Hades laughed. 'Oh, you should have seen your face!'

'I was facing away from you.'

'Yeah, but _after.' _Hades insisted with a chuckle. 'I should scare you more often. You nearly pissed yourself.'

Valkyrie snorted. 'I did not nearly piss myself. Shut up now.'

Hades just continued to laugh, much to Valkyrie's annoyance.

'It wasn't that funny.' she growled, whirling round, once again, to face him.

He eventually stopped chuckling, but a huge grin remained on his face.

'Grow up.' Valkyrie muttered, turning back around in her seat to find that everyone else was laughing at them, too. She raised both her eyebrows.

'Okay, you can stop laughing now.' she said wearily.

Blade chuckled. 'You two really are a match made in heaven.' he said, laughing again when she punched him in the arm.

'I'd rather gouge my own eyes out.' she said sweetly.

'Me, too.' Hades muttered, folding his arms over his chest.

'But they're such pretty eyes.' Blade teased. Valkyrie hit him again.

**HL**

Blade smiled at the girl who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He could tell that she was exhausted. She looked peaceful when she was sleeping- peaceful and beautiful. He'd had the slightest crush on her when he'd first met her and she had started training him to be a better fighter, among other things, but he was one hundred percent sure that he'd gotten over that crush now.

… Well, ninety-nine percent sure.

He sighed, and she murmured in her sleep. He smirked. He'd never seen Valkyrie Cain in such a vulnerable state before.

'Oh, and you say _we'd _make a perfect couple.' he heard Hades mutter from behind him. His head snapped up to glare at his older brother, who simply smirked in response, his green eyes dancing in mischief.

'Shut up.' Blade muttered, trying not to move too much in case he woke up Valkyrie.

'What? I'm just making a comment.' his smirk grew, if it were possible. 'Why? Getting defensive, are we?'

Blade snorted quietly. 'Not likely. She's my teacher and my mentor, Hades, and she's yours, too. Get a grip.'

'Touchy.' Hades muttered, waggling his eyebrows, but sank back in his seat and dropped the subject anyway.

'Don't listen to him, Blade.' Willow said from her seat, offering him a warm smile, which turned sly in moments. 'He's probably just jealous, anyway.'

'Me?' Hades blurted. 'Jealous? Of _what_?'

'Blade. I thought that much would be pretty obvious, you imbecile.' an amused voice murmured, and Blade's eyes widened as he looked down at Valkyrie, who was now, apparently, awake. 'Now would you mind quieting down, especially since you're talking about _my _love life? I really would like to get to sleep.' she smiled serenely, her eyes still closed. 'Thank you.'

Blade felt an unwanted flush spread across his cheeks as he exchanged a guilty look with his fellow group members.

'Sorry.' he muttered.

He didn't get any kind of response except for a series of soft snores, signalling that Valkyrie had already fallen back asleep.

**HL**

'Thrasher.' Scapegrace hissed from the doorway of his cubicle. The zombie didn't move. 'Thrasher, you bumbling idiot, get here now!'

Thrasher jumped, startled, and whirled round to look at his master. Well, turned around as fast as a zombie like him could- you could hardly call it whirling.

'What is it, master?' Thrasher asked obediently.

'We can't let them take us back to Dublin- you know that, don't you?'

'Of course.'

Scapegrace frowned at him. 'So you know that as soon as this plane lands, we need to escape. Make a run for it.'

Thrasher looked at Scapegrace wearily. 'Master... you do know that we're shackled, don't you? And I'm afraid that my legs are stiff from all this sitting around. I don't think I'd be able to run without them snapping off.'

Scapegrace rolled his eyes. 'Of course you would be the one to drag me down.'

'I'm so sorry.'

'Shut up.' Scapegrace muttered, then scratched his head. Flakes of dead skin came peeling away with every scratch, getting trapped beneath his already-rotten fingernails. 'Then what can we do?'

Thrasher looked down, evidently trying to think. It couldn't be working out too well for him. His IQ seriously couldn't be in the double-digit zone.

'We could stay and hide on the plane.' he offered after a moment's thought.

Scapegrace glared at him. It wasn't a very threatening glare- no, he saved those for Cain and her pals- but it made Thrasher cower back, nevertheless. 'That's a terrible idea.' he growled. 'They'd come looking for us.'

'Oh, right.' Thrasher mumbled. 'Sorry.'

'You're useless.' Scapegrace threw his hands in the air dramatically. 'An abomination! A complete idiot!' he paused and looked at his follower, a slow smile forming on his face. 'And you would make a great distraction.'

'I'm... uh... I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, sir.' Thrasher stammered, alarmed by the glint in his master's eye.

'You'll find out.' Scapegrace promised. The plane rocked slightly in the air, causing Scapegrace's stomach to suddenly lurch. He had no idea if zombies could vomit or not... but he quickly found out, when he promptly vomited all over Thrasher's shoes.

**HL**

'We're almost there!' Willow squealed excitedly.

Hazel rolled her eyes. 'Oh, joy of joys.'

Willow pouted at her friend. 'You're not excited?'

'I'm never excited.' Hazel replied, resting her arm lazily against the armrest.

'Nor are you ever happy, humorous, fun, or in any kind of good mood, really.' Hades teased with a smirk, causing Hazel to turn round and stare at him with narrowed eyes.

'At least I'm not a dick, like you.' she retorted. Valkyrie giggled and Hades frowned.

'Why do you guys always call me names? I'm nice.' he looked round at everyone's disbelieving expressions, and his eyes widened comically. 'Aren't I?'

'Of course you are.' Willow said sweetly, offering him an innocent smile.

'Let me guess,' Hades said with a tired sigh, 'I'm going to say _really?, _and you're going to say _no_, and then everyone will start laughing their asses off because I have once again been made to look like an idiot.'

'No, no.' Willow protested. 'Of course not! You're not made to look like an idiot... you _are_ an idiot.'

This caused everyone to crack up laughing. Willow's fiery personality matched her fiery hair perfectly, petite sixteen year-old girl or not.

Hades rolled his eyes. 'And you all tell _me _to grow up.'

Valkyrie winked at him. 'That would be because _you _actually need to. We don't- we just like laughing at your expense.'

'That's unfair.'

'That's life.' Valkyrie retorted with a grin, and turned back around in her seat. She looked at Blade with a raised eyebrow. 'So.' she said to him, causing his attention to snap over to her immediately. 'I fell asleep on your shoulder. Are you going to stab me for invading your personal space, or do you only do that to your brother now?'

Blade chuckled. 'I only did that once, come on. You can't hold it against me forever. And don't worry, I won't stab you- in fact, you can feel free to do it again.' he smirked, causing Valkyrie's grin to grow wider.

'I may just take you up on that.' she teased, before looking over his shoulder and out the window. 'How far away are we?'

He shrugged. 'About ten minutes, I think.'

Valkyrie didn't let her sudden stab of fear show on her face. 'Okay.' she said indifferently, looking away again.

Blade, unfortunately for Valkyrie, picked up on her panic instantly. He touched her shoulder. 'Hey, you don't need to worry, you know. It'll all be fine. You can-'

His comforting words were cut off by a loud _thud_ from the bathroom. Valkyrie leapt to her feet immediately. 'Crap.' she cursed. 'Scapegrace and Thrasher. I completely forgot about them.'

She walked quickly to the bathroom and flung the door open, revealing Scapegrace with his hand pressed to his face and Thrasher lying in a heap at his feet.

'He fell.' Scapegrace muttered. 'He was just standing there, and he _fell_.'

Valkyrie didn't say anything, just raised her eyebrows. Scapegrace peeled his hand from his face, revealing that, much to Valkyrie's intense disgust, a layer of his skin had stuck to his hand and pulled away from his face.

She wrinkled her nose at him. 'You are disgusting.'

'It's in my nature.' he replied gloomily.

She frowned at him, and looked down at Thrasher, whose shoes, she noticed, were covered in a horrid-smelling and awful-looking substance, that seemed suspiciously like vomit.

'Oh, gross.' she muttered. 'Did you throw up on Thrasher?'

Scapegrace nodded sadly. 'Apparently zombies _can _throw up.'

'It smells worse than normal vomit.'

'That would be because I'm a zombie.'

'I figured about as much.' Valkyrie shuddered, stepping away from Thrasher's form. 'Get back on the plane, and don't leave our sight. We'll be landing in around ten minutes, and when we do, we'll be greeted by some nice, friendly Sanctuary officials, who will be more than happy to help keep you in line.' she smiled at him before turning on her heel and striding back over to her seat.

'I should have just killed them.' she moaned when her back hit the cushiony seat. 'I should have killed them while I had the chance and been done with it.'

'Why?' Blade asked. 'What have they done?'

Valkyrie sighed. 'Scapegrace threw up on Thrasher- it's absolutely disgusting, by the way, you wouldn't want to check it out- and he fell over. I don't think he'll be able to get back up.'

Blade frowned. 'You didn't help him up?'

'God, no. What do you think I am?' she shuddered.

He chuckled and looked at her. 'So, where are we staying during our visit?'

'Good question.' she murmured. 'Erskine Ravel so kindly told Willow that he would find us a place within the Sanctuary where we could stay. It's the best we can do for now.'

'For now?' Blade raised an eyebrow. 'So does that mean we're going to be staying for longer than, say, a month?'

'My, my, you _do _ask an awful lot of questions.' Valkyrie sighed. 'I don't know, Blade. Why don't you ask the mass murderer who caused us to come over here?'

'Speaking of the murders,' Hazel interrupted, 'what do you think might be causing them? From their descriptions, they're pretty brutal. Pretty violent.'

Valkyrie paused, considering this, then shrugged. 'It could be anything, I suppose. We shouldn't try and narrow it down at this stage.'

'This stage, meaning, we're still on the plane and technically haven't started the case yet.' Hades added. 'Meaning we should enjoy our last moments in which we don't have to work.'

'Sometimes I wonder why you even help us on these cases.' Valkyrie chided. 'You're quite often no help whatsoever.'

Hades smirked. 'I come along to make the rest of you look good. I mean, seriously- you need at least _one _good-looking person in the group.'

'So what actually is your job?' Valkyrie smirked.

Hades' grin dropped and he sat back in his chair, glaring out the window. If there was one thing he hated, it was to have his ego bruised. Something which Valkyrie did very often.

'It has to be someone very violent.' Blade noted, frowning at his brother and his best friend. 'Which, you know, could be a lot of people.'

'It could be a remnant.' Valkyrie said suddenly, her voice quiet.

'A what?' Willow asked with a raised eyebrow.

'A remnant,' Valkyrie explained, 'is a horrible little creature that can possess whoever it likes- as long as the body they want to possess is living.'

'Sounds horrible.' Hazel frowned.

Valkyrie nodded, her eyes distant, her mouth set in a hard line. 'They are. They really, really are.'

'But why suggest that?' Willow asked. 'That was a bit random, don't you think?'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'We have to consider every possibility.'

She didn't include, of course, that she had a feeling that another remnant might be loose, trying to lure Darquesse out. The others didn't even know about her past. She was pretty sure they didn't know anything about Darquesse, either, other than that she would be the one to kill the world.

The group carried on talking discussing possibilities and exchanging theories, until a voice boomed across the plane over the intercom.

'We will be landing in two minutes.' a friendly female voice said. Valkyrie recognised it as Ever Pearl, a sorcerer from the American Sanctuary who had helped the group out on many occasions.

Valkyrie groaned.

**A/N: There it is! ;) That's right, you get a double update, because I'm feeling nice.  
>Hope you liked the chapter! :) I'm glad that I now have four- count 'em!- reviews. And my story has been favourited three times, which rocks! :D<br>Thank you for reading, reviewing and favouriting and such. :) Next update will come tomorrow, and you'll get the group's visit to the Irish Sanctuary. I have one question, though; do you guys prefer Valduggery or Fletchyrie, or anything else? I'm just curious. Don't worry, I know where this story is going. :)  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	4. The Sanctuary

**Chapter 4. **

They had tried to run away.

Valkyrie glanced at the shackled zombies with a deep frown. She hadn't thought they would actually be stupid enough to try and run away.

Though she had to admit, Thrasher being thrown at them as soon as they stepped out of the plane had been distracting- momentarily.

She'd broke into a sprint to chase Scapegrace while Hades acted automatically and punched Thrasher in the nose. It had been much too easy to catch up to Scapegrace and pin him to the ground. She had then handed him over to one of the security guards on the plane, who was escorting him through the airport. He'd apologized for the unexpected 'attack' and promised he would deliver the pair of idiots straight to the Sanctuary, through different means of travel to Valkyrie's own. Valkyrie didn't mind.

She rejoined the others and followed them away from the landing ground and into the airport building. It was big.

'Welcome to Ireland.' the shiny-faced woman with a huge smile greeted from behind her desk at the airport. 'Please enjoy your stay.'

Valkyrie grumbled a small _thanks _for the rest of the group, and shuffled along through the airport with them. This was it. They were in Haggard. They would be visiting the Irish Sanctuary straight away- it was the only reason they were there in the first place, after all.

Valkyrie frowned when they left the airport and were greeted with heavy rain. Damn. Maybe they should have checked the Irish weather reports or something... they were all wearing summer clothes.

'Ew!' Willow squealed when the fat drops landed on her head. 'I hate rain.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'I forgot about this. I don't know whether to be happy at the coolness compared to California, or be depressed that we're probably not going to see a blue sky in our whole visit.'

Blade grinned at her. 'It's a refreshing change.'

'It's raining.'

'I noticed.'

'You like rain?'

'I prefer it to sun.'

'You strange boy.' Willow said. 'You strange, strange boy.'

Maddox tilted his head up to the sky and smiled. 'I certainly don't mind it.'

Willow wouldn't stop complaining about her yellow summer dress getting wet- she was definitely the only truly girly member of the group- so Valkyrie decided to hail a taxi. She'd brought enough Irish Euros with her to last a lifetime, courtesy of her Uncle Gordon's generous will.

They all piled into the taxi. The driver was smoking a cigarette and the fumes filled the car, making everyone but Valkyrie cough slightly.

'Where to?' he asked in a deep, gravelly voice.

Valkyrie hesitated and then told him the directions. They would go to the edge of Roarhaven in the taxi- after all, it would be easier if the driver _didn't _go through the rough city.

'What's Roarhaven like?' Hazel asked her quietly.

Valkyrie pursed her lips. 'It's... different. Not very friendly, I suppose, but we're going to ignore that- am I right?'

'Right.' Hazel smiled slightly and turned back to look out the window at the passing scenery.

They rode in silence for a while.

'Stop here.' Valkyrie ordered when she was satisfied that they were close enough.

The driver nodded and pulled over. He asked for his money, and Valkyrie just gave him ten Euros in a note.

'Keep the change.' she muttered as the others climbed out. Maddox was the last to clamber out, and he slammed the door behind him.

'Fresh air!' he rasped dramatically, almost throwing himself on the ground. She glanced back at the taxi to see the driver giving them all a disapproving look before he drove away again. She resisted the urge to give him a rude gesture, simply because he was too far away by then to actually see it.

'We can walk the rest of the way, it's not far. This is a small town.' Valkyrie announced, already striding forward . The others followed. Blade and Hades matched her speed easily. The others could, too, but they chose to stay behind. The two leaders in front, the rest at the back. It was somehow easier that way.

'What did you guys say the Grand Mage was called again?' Hades asked her, an almost apologetic tone in his voice. Ass though he was, he still had respect for her. Most of the time. 'I really don't want to have to address him as Sir.'

'Erskine Ravel.' she answered, amusement in her tone. 'It's funny, I used to have the biggest crush on him.' she glanced back at Willow with a raised eyebrow. 'And I have a feeling Willow's going to have the same feelings.'

The redhead blushed. 'Shut up.' she muttered, looking down.

Valkyrie grinned at her friend and then faced forward again, her step not slowing.

It wasn't long before they reached the Sanctuary, in all it's plain, grey glory. It hadn't changed much since Valkyrie had last seen it- just a few more cracks in the walls, a few minor decorative touches added. Still recognisable, and still the same.

But it wasn't the sight of the Sanctuary that made Valkyrie's eyes widen and her heart beat that little bit faster.

It was the sleek, black Bentley that she spotted parked near the entrance.

**HL**

'It's, uh... very nice.' Blade tried as they were escorted by a Grey Cleaver through the Sanctuary. They were going to see the Grand Mage straight away.

A lot of mages and sorcerers had stopped and stared at them as they walked, and Valkyrie briefly wondered whether they stared because they hadn't seen her in a long time, or because they all stuck out like a sore thumb in this place. She had put her black coat and heavy boots on over her summer outfit, as had the others.

Valkyrie snorted. 'It's as lively as the city it's situated in. But whatever- we're not here to take in the sights.' she said, a note of warning in her voice.

'The Cleavers are cool.' Hazel smirked, eyeing one of them.

Valkyrie chuckled. 'They are.' she hesitated. 'Did you know these things used to scare me? Not any more, obviously, but when I was younger...' she shuddered falsely.

Maddox raised an eyebrow at her. 'The great Valkyrie Cain, scared of Cleavers?'

Valkyrie nodded solemnly. '_Was_. Not any more.'

'Of course.' Hades grinned.

Blade smiled a lopsided smile at her. 'I believe you.'

She glared at them all. 'I'm _not _scared of the Cleavers!' she said indignantly, perhaps raising her voice a little too much. A few people gave her strange looks.

'The Grand Mage will see you now.' the Cleaver said, stopping outside a door.

'Thank you.' Valkyrie said.

'They can talk?' she heard Hades mumble under her breath, but she ignored him and pushed the door open. She saw a figure sat at a desk, looking expectantly at the group.

Erskine Ravel.

She grinned when she saw him, despite herself. In truth, she had missed _everyone_- even those who she didn't see every day.

'Erskine.' she greeted, flashing him a charming smile.

He stared at her for a few seconds before seeming to gather his thoughts. He returned the smile, just as charming.

'Valkyrie. I'm so glad you came.' he said. Valkyrie took in how tired he looked- the problem with being a Grand Mage, she had learned, was having to do more work than you were usually prepared for. Erskine looked at the others in the group and beamed. 'And it's nice to meet the rest of you, too.'

'Introduce yourselves.' Valkyrie said to the others.

'I'm Willow Arawn.' Willow said immediately, giving the Irish Grand Mage a shy smile.

'Blade Koldo.' Blade said flatly.

'Hades Flame.'

'Maddox Fever, nice to meet you.' Maddox smiled politely.

'Hazel Lynd. The pleasure's all yours.'

Erskine laughed. 'I'm sure it is. Willow, you're the one I called.' he smiled at Willow, and Valkyrie was quite sure she saw the younger girl blush. She raised a dark eyebrow. Interesting. Valkyrie now had something to hold over her best friend.

'Yep.' she said, popping the P.

'And the rest of you know why you're here?'

'Of course we do.' Valkyrie said. 'And don't worry, we're going to help. We'll get the case solved no problem... but, may I ask, who is it we'll be working with? Willow mentioned another agent.'

Erskine suddenly looked anxious. 'Oh, yes. About that...'

'I'm going to take a wild guess and say that it's Skulduggery. Am I right?'

Erskine sighed. 'Yes. I'm sorry, Val, but he's the best we have- I hope you don't mind working with him.

Valkyrie waved a hand dismissively. 'No, no, we don't mind.'

Erskine smiled at her. 'Your accent's changed.' he noted.

'Thanks for noticing.' she smirked at him. 'Four years in California will do that, I guess.'

'So you've just been in California all along?'

'That's right.'

'How did you get there in the first place?'

'I used a Sanctuary plane.'

He frowned. 'I never agreed to that.'

'I know.'

'So how did you get on it?'

'I have my ways, trust me.'

Erskine shrugged. 'I suppose you do.'

'Tell me about the murders.' Valkyrie said, perching on a chair opposite the desk. She gestured for the others to do the same, and they did. Only Hazel and Blade remained standing, due to the fact that there weren't enough chairs for all of them.

Valkyrie didn't offer them her chair. They didn't mind.

Erskine grimaced. 'There's not much to tell. They're violent, they're brutal... it seems most of them are taking place at night, and a few of them have been found drained of blood. That makes us suspect vampires.'

Valkyrie nodded. 'And the other bodies?'

'A girl called Helena Wilhearn was found torn to pieces in a park the other day. Only her face remained intaxt. Another victim, Sasha Indigo, was a sorcerer- she was drained of blood and had both her arms torn right off.'

Valkyrie frowned. 'So you're saying this could just be an angry vampire?'

Erskine shook his head. 'It's possible, I suppose, that one of them is _involved- _or maybe quite a few, actually. But I don't think a vampire in its true form would have cared to leave a signature by the bodies.'

Valkyrie's frown deepened impossibly at the news. 'Signature?'

'Pinned to each body was a playing card.'

'I don't suppose it could have been a group of drunk college boys who needed a break from their wild game of cards.'

'Be serious.'

She smiled. 'Sorry.'

'Who would leave a playing card attached to their victim's bodies?' Blade piped up, his eyebrows practically in his hairline. 'That doesn't make any sense.'

'No, it doesn't.' Erskine agreed.

'It's clearly someone with a sick sense of humour.' Valkyrie's mouth twisted in a grimace. 'It's very possible that it could be a group of people. Vampires to do all the killing, a normal- if slightly sadistic- sorcerer to leave the playing cards, and more people to make the plans and choose the victims.'

Everyone looked at her and she shrugged.

'That does seem likely.' Erskine said. 'But who would do that? How would we be able to find that out?'

Valkyrie opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by the door swinging open, and Ghastly Bespoke bursting in.

**HL**

'Did you see them?' Madame Mist whispered to Ghastly, who looked at her with a frown.

'See who?' he asked her.

She looked at him through her thin black veil. 'The new detectives.'

'The ones Ravel hired?'

'The ones that the _Grand Mage_ hired.' Mist said sternly.

Ghastly shook his head, lips in a hard line, and pushed his chair back as he stood. 'If you'll excuse me.' he said flatly, storming out of the room.

So Valkyrie and her group had arrived. Why had he not been told of this? Why did it seem that everyone knew about their arrival, was whispering about their arrival, but him?

He needed to, once again, speak with Ravel.

He approached the door and heard voices inside; one of them was female and sounded familiar, except with an American accent- maybe Californian or something like that.

Valkyrie, he figured.

He felt a pang when he heard her voice- finally, after all these years- but when he heard Ravel's voice after hers, he ignored how much he had missed Valkyrie Cain and pushed the doors open.

Everyone in the room spun round to face him, surprise etched onto all of their faces.

He barely glanced at any of them, not even Valkyrie.

'You didn't tell me they'd arrived.' he said curtly, a frown on his scarred face.

'Ghastly!' he heard that same voice squeal. He looked at where it had come from and his jaw dropped; it was Valkyrie. It was really Valkyrie. She looked even more beautiful than ever and had a breathtaking smile on her face.

'Valkyrie.' he couldn't help but grin at her. 'It's been a while.'

She chuckled. 'I suppose it has.'

'You look different. It's good.'

She raised an eyebrow at him. 'You mean to say I didn't look attractive before I left?' she pouted. 'Now, that's harsh.'

'I didn't mean that!' he protested. 'Is that where you've been all this time? America?'

He scanned her clothes, raising his eyebrows. Valkyrie was wearing a stripy vest top with denim shorts- not exactly fighting gear, if you asked him. But she also wore a long black coat that hugged her body and must have looked impressive when she was walking or standing in the wind. She also wore heavy-looking black boots that laced up to just under her knees. They looked strong; not as strong as his, maybe, but still strong. He had a feeling there might be someone in America who had a similar talent to him.

She nodded. 'California. Sorry for leaving, by the way.' she smiled apologetically.

'You shouldn't have done it.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'Yes, I should. Anyway, would you like to meet my friends?' she gestured to the others in the room, and for the first time, Ghastly looked at him.

He saw five other people; three boys, two girls.

One of the girls was a pretty girl who looked no older than sixteen, with red hair and freckles.

The other was a solemn looking girl with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and bangs that covered half of her eyes.

The oldest looking of the boys was a dark-haired man with bright green eyes that reminded Ghastly of emeralds.

Stood near him was a boy who looked similar, if a bit younger. He had the same features and colouring.

Finally, there was a tall boy, with blond hair and a strong jaw. He looked around seventeen years old.

'Of course.' Ghastly said politely, ignoring Ravel's intense stare.

The oldest-looking boy whistled lowly. 'Wow, you sure change moods pretty quick.'

This caused Ghastly to frown.

He noticed that not one of the newcomers had seemed to notice his scars. He briefly wondered if he was wearing his facade, but a quick glance in the small mirror near the door showed him that he wasn't. Maybe they were just polite, maybe they really hadn't noticed... maybe they were just used to seeing faces that were marred like his was.

He hoped it wasn't the latter. They all seemed so young.

He didn't respond to the boy's comment, simply said, 'The name's Ghastly Bespoke. Council Elder and Tailor, at your service.'

'Nice to meet you.' the blonde girl smiled. 'I'm Hazel. Hazel Lynd.'

The redhead grinned widely at him. 'My name is Willow Arawn. It's so nice to meet you- Valkyrie always talked about your clothes.'

Ghastly chuckled. 'They _are_ quite fantastic.'

'Blade Koldo.' the younger dark-haired boy said. 'This is my brother, Hades Flame.'

Ghastly nearly snorted. _Hades_. Who would choose to name themselves after a god?

'And I'm Maddox Fever.' the blond boy smiled.

Ghastly looked at Valkyrie, and she rolled her eyes. 'You know me, Ghastly. I haven't changed my name or anything.'

Ghastly chuckled. 'Nice to meet you all.' he looked at Hades. 'Even you, though I doubt we'll get on in the future.'

He smiled when everyone else in the room struggled to suppress chuckles. Hades frowned, then sneered at him and huffed, crossing his arms.

'We're here to investigate the recent murders- but, of course, you probably know that.' Valkyrie grinned at him.

'Ghastly,' Ravel interrupted quietly. 'Why did you come here?'

Ghastly looked at Ravel. 'Ah, yes. That. Well, I was just...' he faltered. 'You know what? It's nothing. I'll see you later.'

He turned to go, but Ravel stopped him. 'Oh, Ghastly, wait!' he turned round. Ravel hesitated. 'Does... does Skulduggery know yet?'

Ghastly shook his head. 'I've decided to leave him to find out on his own.'

'Find out what?' Valkyrie asked. 'That I'm here?' she frowned at them both. 'You haven't told him?'

'We haven't told anyone.' Ravel said. 'And for now, that's how we intend to keep it. Until the meeting this afternoon, anyway- will the six of you please come?'

'Of course.'

'We'll tell everyone that you're back and working on the case at the meeting, then. For now, I bet you're all tired from your journey. Why don't you let one of the Cleavers escort you to your rooms?'

'You have rooms?' Valkyrie asked, her eyebrows raising. 'In the Sanctuary?'

Ravel nodded. 'A new addition. I hope you like them- I have to say, they're a lot better than the rest of the place.'

**HL**

Valkyrie was the last to leave the room.

'Oh, Valkyrie?' she turned around to look at Ravel, who smiled a small smile at her. 'I really am glad that you came back. We all missed you.'

'I missed you all, too.' she said quietly, before turning and slipping out the door.

'They both seemed nice.' Maddox said to her when the door was shut.

Valkyrie nodded slowly. 'Trust me, they are. Erskine is possibly the first nice Grand Mage this Sanctuary has seen in... a while.'

Willow grinned. 'Well, I can believe _that_.'

They followed the Cleaver to their rooms. Valkyrie hoped they would have separate rooms over here- as much as she loved sharing a bedroom with Hazel and Willow back in California, it was always nice to have your own space.

Valkyrie's eyes roamed the halls, and then her gaze landed on an incredibly thin man, wearing an exquisite suit, with a nice fedora hat perched on his head, tilted at an angle.

Her eyes widened.

Skulduggery.

His head started to turn towards her and she let her curtain of dark hair fall in front of her face, hopefully hiding her face successfully.

'Valkyrie?' Willow poked her arm with a frown, but Valkyrie simply ignored her and faced away from Skulduggery.

Unfortunately, her efforts seemed to be unsuccessful. When she risked a glance back at the Skeleton detective, she saw that he had frozen in his spot, his eye sockets staring at the group. At _her_.

'_Valkyrie_?'

Well, crap.

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Cliffhanger. ;)  
>Sorry to leave it on that! But I'm going to leave you hanging until the update tomorrow... or, if you're lucky, today! I might give you another double update.<br>If you'd care to look back, the first three chapter have changed slightly. Not anything important, and not anything to do with the story, but while writing this chapter I realized that I'd completely forgotten to proof-read them! So it hopefully makes more sense. :) And the paragraphs have been separated, too. So yes. :) All chapter will be proof-read from now on!  
>Hope you liked this chapter. I loved writing it, like I love writing all my chapters. I'm loving writing out Skulduggery's reaction here! :)<br>Feel free to leave a review. I love reading them, they make my day! Really! :)  
>You guys are awesome. Four chapters in and I have nine reviews- wooo! That's good for me. Incredibly grateful over here.<br>Yep, I'm babbling- I'm super duper hyper. XD  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	5. Friends Reunion

**Chapter 5. **

'_Valkyrie?_'

Valkyrie froze in her spot and simply stared back at Skulduggery.

The others in her group frowned and looked back at her. The Cleaver kept walking. Valkyrie didn't care- she'd just ask directions to their rooms from someone else. Right now, the only thing she could focus on was the skeleton detective in front of her, the one whose voice displayed his utter shock quite clearly.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. She hadn't expected it to be so hard to be seeing all these people she'd missed- Ravel, Ghastly... _Skulduggery_.

'Uh...' she said lamely. 'Hi.'

She didn't know what his expression was- his head was nothing but a skull, after all. She didn't know whether he was happy, or angry, or whatever else he could be.

'Are... are you going to say something?' she asked.

'You're back.' Skulduggery stated flatly.

She rolled her eyes. 'Something that isn't stating the obvious.'

'You sound funny.'

'Thanks.'

'It's been four years.'

'Again with the stating the obvious thing...'

And then they were hugging. Valkyrie wasn't even aware that she'd moved until she'd felt bony arms circling her. She threw her arms around Skulduggery's neck and hugged him tightly. She was sure she felt a drop of wetness trickling down her cheek, but at the time, she didn't care. She was back. Skulduggery seemed to be fine with it. Everything was going to be okay...

Well, apart from the obvious problems. But they could deal with them when the time came, just like old times.

And then someone cleared their throat.

Her eyes widened and she pulled away immediately, looking over at the one who had cleared his throat- Blade. He was staring at them both, along with the rest of the group.

He raised a dark eyebrow at Valkyrie. 'Care to explain?'

She nodded slowly, glancing back at Skulduggery out of the corner of her eye. She wiped a hand across her face quickly, inwardly cursing herself for crying, especially in the presence of other people.

'Guys... this is Skulduggery. Skulduggery Pleasant. My old mentor... and my best friend.' she explained.

'You're a skeleton. You know that you're a skeleton, don't you?' Hades asked with a raised eyebrow and a serious look.

'I'm quite aware of it.' Skulduggery said. 'Now, if you'll excuse us, I'd like to speak to Valkyrie.'

Without warning, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the group. When he spoke, his voice was deathly quiet.

'Would you like to explain why you left?' he asked. Valkyrie noted how he hardly moved, and how he had tilted his hat low over his eyes.

She knew the signs. Skulduggery was livid, for some reason that she couldn't quite fathom.

But she wasn't scared of him- not any more. She was twenty years old and strong, one of the best detectives-slash-fighters in the whole of America. She could handle her old friend.

'I thought you would have already figured it out.' she replied shortly.

She was quite sure he was glaring at her. 'Did you really think leaving Ireland would stop Darquesse? No, wait, let me rephrase that- did you really _think_?'

'I knew what I was doing.' she said, her voice displaying her anger. 'I still do. You remember, don't you, that the vision for Darquesse was predicted when I was around the age of _eighteen or nineteen? _I'm now twenty years old. Darquesse hasn't appeared _once _since I left.'

'If your life has been so wonderful, then _why did you come back_?' Skulduggery demanded angrily.

The only reason I'm back in Ireland right now is because Ravel wanted us to help _you _with the case.'

'The murder case?'

'I'm not sure what other case we could be talking about.'

'Your sharp wit didn't leave you, did it?' Skulduggery questioned with a sigh. Valkyrie pictured the anger dissipating from him, red shadows of it leaking from his skull as he calmed down...

'Obviously not.' she retorted. 'So. Did you miss me at all?'

There was a pause. 'Of course I missed you, Valkyrie. We all missed you.'

'Apart from my parents.' Valkyrie couldn't hide the bitterness that filled her all of a sudden. 'They didn't even know I was gone.'

'Of course they didn't- you left them with the reflection. Which, by the way, has succeeded in keeping its mouth firmly shut about your leaving.'

'So you found the note I left with her?'

'She had to punch your father in the face to stop him from reading it.'

Valkyrie cringed, blinking rapidly. The _reflection _punched her _father _in the face? 'Maybe I should have reminded her that violence was no longer necessary.'

'I think you're still grounded for that one.'

Valkyrie sighed. '_I'm _not grounded, Skulduggery. The reflection is.' she paused. 'Though I have to admit, I would very much like to see my parents again. It has been four years, after all.'

'That's only normal.' he put a hand on her shoulder. 'Are _you _okay?'

'Of course I'm okay.' she cocked her head to the side. 'Don't I look okay?'

'No, no... I mean, yes. What I'm saying is, you look fine.'

'Fine?'

'And dandy.'

She snorted.

'And who are your friends?' Skulduggery continued, looking over her shoulder at Blade, Hades, Willow, Hazel and Maddox. The five of them were watching the pair closely, though trying their best not to look too eager. Valkyrie beamed proudly at them- she had taught them well.

She pointed to each person as she said their name. 'Willow Arawn, Hazel Lynd, Blade Koldo, Maddox Fever and Hades Flame. They're my friends, roommates and fellow detectives.'

He paused and looked at her. 'Detectives?'

She grimaced. 'I use that word loosely. Everyone else says we're detectives, I say we're just exceptionally smart people.'

'I take it you've been in America all this time.'

'You didn't figure that out already?'

'I was too distracted by the fact that you're really here.'

'I really am.' she smiled at him.

'And still as cocky as ever.'

'Hey!' she protested. 'I'm not co-' she froze. 'Oh, dear god, I am.'

Skulduggery nodded. 'Of course you are. But don't worry about it. It's to be expected from a girl as pretty as you.' he looked her up and down. 'You're all grown up.'

She sighed. 'Yep. A lot has changed since I left four years ago, Skul.'

'Did you just call me Skul?'

'Skulduggery is one hell of a mouthful...'

'Yes, but _Skul_...'

'Would you prefer Skul-man?'

'Skul is fine.'

'I thought so.' Valkyrie grinned again. 'There's something I want to say.'

'Then say it.' Skulduggery prompted.

'I've been wanted to say it since I met you, but I haven't been able to, because until now, it hasn't been true.'

'Please, do enlighten me.'

'Skulduggery...'

'Yes?'

'I'm better than you.'

He stared at her, his head tilting to the side. Disbelief was etched into his voice. 'Ex_cuse_ me?'

Apparently, Valkyrie's little brag hadn't been what he was expecting. She said it again. 'I, Valkyrie Cain, am better than you, Skulduggery Pleasant.'

'How so?'

'I'm a better detective than you, I'm sure. I'm positive I can beat you in a fight, and plus, I have two types of magic up my sleeve. I can bet that I have a hell of a lot more friends than you-'

'Everyone has more friends than me.'

'Let me finish.' she raised an eyebrow, looking at the ceiling, making it appear that she was thinking hard. 'I've been training not one, but _five _other people to be as good as me over the past four years. It took me less than two months to get a job in the American Sanctuary, and the Grand Mage over there actually likes me.'

'Erskine likes me.'

'Thurid Guild didn't.'

'But he's in prison. He doesn't count.'

'He still doesn't like you, though.'

Skulduggery sighed. 'I can't argue with you there.'

'So have we gathered enough evidence to prove that I am, indeed, better than you?'

Skulduggery snorted. 'God, no. I'll believe it when I see it.'

Valkyrie grinned at him and walked away, throwing over her shoulder, 'And see it you shall, my dear Skulduggery.'

**HL**

'You failed to mention that your mentor was a skeleton.' Blade pointed out to Valkyrie when she returned from her talk with Skulduggery Pleasant, who was still staring after her.

She shrugged, smiling slightly. 'You never asked.'

'It isn't something a person would usually ask.'

'I don't know- _Hey, Valkyrie, just out of curiosity; who was _your_ mentor? A human, animal, or, hey! Maybe he was a skeleton?_ Sounds like a normal question to ask.'

'You never cease to amaze me with your baffling intelligence.' Blade chuckled.

Valkyrie punched him lightly in the arm. 'I hope that isn't sarcasm that I detect in your voice, Koldo, or I might have to beat you to a pulp right here, in front of everyone.'

'I'd like to see you try.'

'Trust me, you wouldn't.'

She was walking quickly. Blade watched her face carefully as she walked, and was surprised that she looked emotional. More so than he had seen her in a while. Was this from the meeting with her old mentor, or was it something else? Something more... maybe to do with the fact that she was finally, once again, back in her home town?

Blade had watched them hugging. He'd seen the tears that had been running down her face as she did so. He'd listened to her when she'd said that Skulduggery Pleasant was her best friend. The skeleton obviously meant a lot to her- she wouldn't ever show this much raw emotion for just anyone.

'He seems lovely- the skeleton thing aside, of course.' Hades winked.

'What's wrong with him being a skeleton?' Valkyrie asked defensively.

'It _is _a little strange, Val- at least, it is to us.' she added quickly upon seeing Valkyrie's sharp glare.

Valkyrie sighed. 'I suppose it is.' she hesitated, as if debating on whether to say what she was planning to next. Apparently, she decided to say it anyway. 'I fainted when I first saw him.'

Hades burst out into loud guffaws and Willow giggled. Blade chuckled at Valkyrie, who now looked faintly annoyed. 'I knew you'd react like this.' she grumbled quietly. 'I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.'

Blade threw an arm around her shoulder and grinned at her. 'This is why you love us.'

'And why is that?' she asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

'Because we'll always be there to laugh at you.'

'That kind of makes me hate you.'

'No it doesn't. It makes you love us, and that's great, because we love you, too.'

She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. 'You love me, do you?'

Blade felt a faint blush spread across his cheek. 'No.'

She raised an eyebrow, her grin dropping. 'You don't?'

'I mean, of course I do!' Blade smiled, silently willing his blush to go away. 'You know- as a friend, of course!'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'That's what I meant, dumbass.'

**HL**

Skulduggery Pleasant was confused.

He didn't get confused very often, and, god help him, he loathed it when he did- but confused was the only way he could describe how he was feeling right now.

He was happy that Valkyrie was back, but angry at the same time. A strange, intoxicating mixture of joy and rage had bubbled up inside him- figuratively speaking, of course- when he'd seen her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her face from him.

He was glad that she had started the conversation with a snappy comment. It saved him from breaking the silence with something awkward, or worse, something painstakingly embarrassing.

She was all grown up now, he realized. Twenty years old, looking beautiful and confident, her eyes holding a wisdom and knowledge that he'd never known Valkyrie had possessed. She was still sarcastic and witty, and she still seemed to love to tease him.

But there was something different about her, something so, so different, and Skulduggery couldn't place it. That confused him even more.

He sighed. He was confused about his feelings, he was confused about Valkyrie, he was confused about Tanith, he was confused about the case he had to work on- since when had life (or un-life) become so complicated?

**HL**

'Thank you.' Valkyrie smiled at the sorcerer who had so kindly pointed out their rooms for them. She vaguely remembered the sorcerer's name- Shakira or Shakra, or something like that. Valkyrie had seen her around the Sanctuary before she'd left for America.

She let out a low whistle when she saw the rooms- six glossy black doors spaced next to each other, with gold-plated numbers stuck on. There were other rooms, of course, but the numbers on those rooms were silver-plated. Valkyrie smiled. 'We're special.' she murmured.

She heard Hades chuckle. 'Dibs on room number sixty-nine.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'Grow up.' she muttered.

'What?' Hades asked innocently.

She ignored him. 'I'm going in the room in the middle. Choose your own rooms among yourselves, and please, no fighting. Hades, you can have room sixty-nine if you want it so badly- but, please, so immaturity.'

She heard him hiss, '_Awesome,' _under his breath and she shook hear head, amused, before pushing open her door. The number on the front of it was _67_.

'Mine is room 67.' she said quickly to the others, before closing the door over and turning to examine her new room.

It was all right. Pretty enough. The walls were a dark grey- just like the rest of the Sanctuary, apparently- and there was a small window opposite the door. There was a painting of someone Valkyrie didn't know of next to it.

The bed was in a corner next to a small, oak table that held a single lamp. It was a double bed with plain black sheets. She raised an eyebrow; she didn't need a double bed. She hardly moved at all in her sleep. But whatever- she supposed, as long as it was comfy enough, it would be fine.

There was an armchair in the corner near the door, and in front of it was an oak coffee table.

Nice enough, Valkyrie thought, but a little bit plain.

She sighed and went to the window, staring out at the rain that was pattering against Roarhaven. It really was an incredibly dull place. Valkyrie couldn't see one patch of grass that wasn't brown, and the trees weren't any different. Even the buildings seemed to be drooping.

She drummed her fingers against the window pane, glancing at her watch. It was 11:30am. Erskine Ravel had said something about a meeting that afternoon, and that he wanted Valkyrie to attend- she made a mental note to go down and ask him about that as soon as she got the chance.

She then sighed again, and jumped onto her bed, curling up into a ball and eventually drifting off into the land of sleep.

**HL**

Vaurien Scapegrace pressed his face against the wall of his cell.

He had been locked in here and told that he shouldn't expect to get out any time soon. In the cell next to him was Thrasher, but he didn't really care about his idiotic zombie accomplice.

He wanted to get out of this cell. He was _bored_, and he felt a familiar urge to kill Valkyrie Cain.

He had that urge often. Whenever he tried to act on it, however, he ended up in a terrible, often painful, situation- beaten to a pulp, turned into a zombie, pushed off a building, and, more recently, in a prison cell in the Sanctuary.

Scapegrace hated his life.

But he hated Cain even more.

He wanted her to pay for making him suffer so many times in his life- and in his not-so-life. But how could he do that, without getting thwarted? Obviously, Thrasher would be no help whatsoever. The bumbling idiot was useless.

It was this that Scapegrace was pondering over when a face appeared behind the bars of his cell. Scapegrace jumped when he saw it; the face had a long pink scar going through each eye. The eyes, from what he could see, were different colours; one was green, and the other was a strange yellow colour that Scapegrace didn't like. Not one bit.

There was a cruel smile on the ugly face. It belonged to a man- a man who didn't seem very friendly, not at all.

The man spoke, revealing a deep voice that was thick with a heavy London accent. ''Ello there.' he grinned at Scapegrace. 'Seems like you're in a spot of bother there. How'd you like to get out of there?'

Scapegrace's eyes widened. 'I- I'd like that very much... sir.' he stammered.

'Excellent. Then out you shall get. But when you do get out, I want you to do one thing for me... one teensy, tiny little favour.'

'Of course!' Scapegrace cried. 'Anything!'

The man's grin, if it were possible, widened. 'Excellent.' he said darkly. 'Excellent.'

**A/N: Ooh, another cliffhanger. XD I couldn't resist!  
>Trust me, the new guy is no one that you know... unless you're a mind reader. But hopefully, none of you are. :)<br>Hope you liked the new chapter! Feel free to review it, since reviews make me impossibly happy. **

**Sorry that it's short and stuff- I just got back from school, and my hands are aching to death! Hope you're happy that I've suffered for my work. ;(  
>I hope the SkulduggeryValkyrie reunion scene was up to standards... :(  
>Thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews and favouritesalerts! I'm so happy! It makes the suffering worth it! And remember- the more reviews I get, the more often I update. And since I update pretty often anyway- at least, I like to think so- just think about how many updates you'll get if you review! :D  
>You all rock. Really. Truly. Rock.<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	6. A Façade

**Chapter 6. **

'Valkyrie! Valkyrie, get the hell up!' a voice hissed. Valkyrie's eyes fluttered open slowly and she peered up at the figure above her bed, groaning when she recognised her.

'Hazel, what are you doing in my room?' Valkyrie asked tiredly, sitting up. Then her eyes widened as she noticed that the weather had changed outside- it was no longer raining. 'What time is it?'

'Three pm!' Hazel said, wrapping a slim hand around Valkyrie's wrist and pulling the older girl off the bed and to her feet. 'Erskine Ravel wants us to get to this meeting- hurry! We're already late!'

_Oh, great, _Valkyrie thought sarcastically, _what a wonderful first impression to make- late for the meeting in which the group's presence in Ireland would be revealed. Wonderful._

'Crap.' Valkyrie cursed, running hand through her hair. She didn't care if her face showed that she had just woken up- if there was anything she despised, it was being late. 'Let's go.'

'Straighten out your clothes.' Hazel ordered as they jogged down to the meeting room.

Valkyrie did so, and inwardly reprimanded herself for not changing into the rest of her proper fighting clothes before she fell asleep.

They met with Blade, Hades, Willow and Maddox, who were waiting outside the room for them.

'And you say I'm always the late one.' Hades snorted.

'What happened to you?' Blade asked with a frown.

'Fell asleep.' Valkyrie answered. 'Can we go in?'

Willow shook her head. 'Ravel said he'd signal when he wanted us to come in.'

Valkyrie smiled. 'Dramatic entrance?'

'Reserved for us.' Hades winked. 'Like always.'

'How do you all like your rooms? Are they up to your standards?' Valkyrie smirked.

Willow rolled her eyes. 'No. They're too dark.'

'I think they're supposed to be that way.' Blade pointed out.

Willow stuck her tongue out and didn't reply.

They waited in silence for another five minutes before Hades spoke. 'I never realized how boring dramatic entrances are.'

'That's because you've never been entitled to one.' Valkyrie remarked with a sweet smile.

Hades rolled his eyes. 'I don't _need_ one. My presence is powerful enough.'

Valkyrie smiled slightly. She and her group were an odd bunch, they really were.

There was another few moments of comfortable silence before Valkyrie and the others heard Erskine's voice say loudly, 'You all can come in now.'

'That's our cue.' Willow mumbled, gesturing for Valkyrie to push open the door.

She did so.

**HL**

Erskine smiled triumphantly at the several gasps that filled the room when Valkyrie stepped elegantly into the room, followed closely by Blade, Willow, Hades, Hazel and Maddox. The smile dropped, however, when Erskine realized that Skulduggery hadn't even reacted. He hadn't moved a muscle- figuratively speaking, of course.

'Hello.' Valkyrie said lightly, a radiant smile on her face.

'Hello, dear child.' Madame Mist was the first to speak. 'Welcome back to Ireland.'

Valkyrie looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. Erskine couldn't blame her for the look of confusion on her face- had he missed something? Last time he checked, Mist didn't like Valkyrie; and the feeling was entirely mutual.

But now Mist was smiling at Valkyrie like she was an old friend. Odd.

'Uh... hello.' Valkyrie said again, glancing around the room. Her mouth was still curved upwards in the smile, but her eyes showed a smirk. She was clearly enjoying the silence.

'Valkyrie Cain.' a voice said, and Erskine recognised it as the voice of Skulduggery. Finally, his old friend was reacting to Valkyrie's presence. 'It's been a while.'

Valkyrie snorted suddenly. Erskine frowned- okay, so he hadn't expected that one.

'Yeah, Skul, it's been too long- like, three hours now?' she smirked.

Skulduggery tilted his head to the side, a gesture that Erskine figured was a smile.

'You've already ran into each other, I take it?' Erskine guessed, slightly disappointed that he didn't get to watch Skulduggery's reaction to seeing Valkyrie for the first time in four years.

As if sensing his disappointment, Valkyrie smiled almost apologetically at him. 'Yeah. Sorry to crash your hopes of watching him, like, lose it.'

'And who are your friends?' Mist asked, looking curiously at the group, who were stood behind Valkyrie.

Valkyrie glanced back at them.

'My name is Blade Koldo.' Blade said with a sigh. Erskine didn't know how many times the kids had had to repeat their own names today- a few times, surely.

'I'm Willow Arawn.' the cute redhead, Willow, smiled.

'Hazel Lynd.'

'The name's Maddox Fever. Glad to meet you.'

'I'm Hades Flame.'

There was a snort. Erskine looked at the one who made the noise- it came, once again, from Skulduggery. 'Nice name.' the skeleton detective said, a smirk in his voice.

Valkyrie, along with everyone else apart from Hades, pressed a hand to her mouth to muffle her giggles. It clearly didn't work as well as she'd hoped, because she quickly removed her hand and burst out into laughter.

Hades glared at her, then at Skulduggery. 'Nice face.' he retorted.

'What face? As you so kindly pointed out earlier, I'm a skeleton- I have no face.'

Hades frowned deeply and crossed his arms, looking away from the rest of the group. Valkyrie grinned at him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 'Don't worry, Flame, he's just kidding. Your name is fine...'

Hades didn't respond in any way other than simply looking at her with raised eyebrows. She smiled guiltily at him then looked back at the group.

'As you all know, my name is Valkyrie Cain. It's been four years since I was last here. I'm only back now, accompanied by my wonderful partners, to help out with the investigation of the recent string of murders, as you all should know.' she raised an eyebrows. 'Any questions, while I'm in such a talkative mood?'

A sorcerer by the name of Celeste Violet raised her hand hesitantly.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'Okay, seriously, this isn't pre-school. You don't need to raise your hand.' she muttered. 'Yes?'

'Why did you leave in the first place?' Celeste asked curiously.

Valkyrie faltered, then frowned. 'No comment.'

'Why?'

'Because I'd prefer not to answer that one.'

'But...' Celeste huffed. 'Fine. Whatever.'

'Nothing else? No questions? Okay, good. Please, feel free to carry on with whatever you were talking about before we came in and wasted a good five minutes of all our lives.' she beamed and took a step back. A shadow fell across her face, and it made the twenty year-old beauty look strangely sinister.

Erskine turned to the rest of the mages who were attending the meeting. There was the Council of Elders, of course, including Ghastly and Mist, along with a few other relatively important sorcerers. Skulduggery was sat at the end of the long table, opposite Erskine himself. If she wasn't too busy being possessed by a body-snatching remnant, Tanith would probably be here, too.

'Speaking of the recent string of murders, that's something else I wanted to speak to you all about.' Erskine said seriously, glancing round at everyone.

**HL**

The meeting, as Valkyrie had expected, was impossibly boring. She loved being a detective and she loved magic, but if there was one thing she despised about it all, it was the incredibly boring meetings she often had to attend. It was tedious.

'Well, that was fun.' she said dryly when Ravel announced the end of the meeting and several people filed out.

Blade rolled his eyes. 'I think I had more fun watching you beat up that idiotic zombie the other day.'

'Idiotic zombie?' a velvety voice that was laced with curiosity asked from behind them, startling Blade and making Valkyrie jump slightly. 'I take it you mean Vaurien Scapegrace? Unless, of course, there are _more _idiotic zombies raging about.'

Valkyrie smiled, looking back at him. 'Don't worry, it's just Scapegrace. And Thrasher- but really, he's too stupid to count as any kind of threat.'

'Both of them are.' Skulduggery agreed, nodding his skull slightly. He turned to face Blade, who suddenly looked uncomfortable.

'Hello.' Skulduggery said cheerfully. 'I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Skulduggery Pleasant, extraordinarily wonderful sleuth and genius.' he tipped his hat. 'Pleasure to meet you.'

Blade smirked slightly. 'Blade Koldo. Valkyrie has told me so much about you.' he said with a pointed look at Valkyrie, who scowled.

'Really?' Skulduggery tilted his head to the side.

'God, no. Today was the first I'd heard of you- sorry, pal.'

Skulduggery looked at Valkyrie, who stared right back at him.

'You do realize,' she said slowly, 'that if you are glaring, raising an eyebrow or anything else at me right now, I won't know.'

'Ah.' Skulduggery said. 'Right.'

He then pulled down his shirt collar and tapped two fingers into the symbols that were carved there. Instantly, waxy skin flowed out over his gleaming skull and his eye sockets were replaced with a pair of light brown eyes. His newly formed her went past his ears, and was brown and wavy.

'Nice.' Valkyrie commented.

'I know.' Skulduggery replied, his new lips twitching into a grin.

Blade, Valkyrie noticed, was staring in shock at Skulduggery.

'Did you.. did you just...?'

Skulduggery smiled cheerily. 'Why, yes, I believe I did.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes with a small smile. 'It's called a façade- it gives him a temporary face so he doesn't scare small children when he walks about in public.'

Skulduggery frowned at her. 'I don't scare children.'

She chuckled. 'All they can see of you is a skinny man covering his whole body and face- no, you might not scare the kids, but you sure as hell scare the parents.'

Skulduggery's frown deepened, but Valkyrie ignored it and looked at Blade with a smile. 'There's so much you have to learn in the magical world, Blade.' she murmured.

Blade raised his eyebrows at her, an amused smile playing at his lips. 'I think you're gloating at the fact that you know more about magic than me. Am I right?'

She smirked. 'I can't lie- yes, you're absolutely correct.'

Blade rolled his eyes. 'Show-off.' he muttered under his breath. Valkyrie heard it, though, and swatted him on the arm.

She frowned suddenly. 'Speaking of Scapegrace and Thrasher... I wonder what happened to them after we left them with the Cleaver.'

Blade shrugged. 'How should I know? It's not like I care, anyway.'

'Do you think they're in jail?'

'Probably.'

'That's actually pretty relieving. Is it weird that I hope they're not dead?'

'Kind of.'

'Oh.' she said quietly, a grin forming on her face. 'Then I suppose I really _am _a weird girl.'

'Hello?' Skulduggery said from behind them, somewhat grumpily. 'Is someone going to tell me why those two zombies would be in jail?'

Valkyrie sighed. 'They came after us in America while me and Blade were out. We beat them up a little and then kept them locked up in our bathroom, trying to decide what to do with him. When the smell became too much, we'd just spray them with fabric cleaner or something.' she paused. 'But that still didn't work, so we figured we needed to get rid of them. We decided to just take them with us to Ireland and let them make their own way in life- or in a prison cell in the Sanctuary- but then, when we were getting of the plane, Scapegrace thought it'd be a good idea to try and get away. He threw Thrasher at me and made a run for it, but I obviously caught him. He then got taken away by an American sorcerer and a Cleaver.'

Skulduggery paused, taking it all in, then raised an eyebrow. 'I suppose he probably _is _in jail, then.'

'Maybe he'll rot to death.' Valkyrie mused, eyes looking toward the ceiling.

'Gross.' Blade muttered.

Valkyrie looked at him and smiled a warm smile.

**HL**

Scapegrace stumbled awkwardly across the graveyard, glancing hastily down at all the dead bodies that were lying beneath the ground.

He was following his new Master; the man who had released him from that horrible prison cell. He would be eternally grateful to his Master.

Scapegrace didn't care in the slightest that Thrasher had been left behind in his own cell.

'What is it you wish for me to do, master?' Scapegrace asked when his Master stopped walking, bowing his head slightly.

He heard his master snort loudly and quickly straightened himself up, embarrassed.

'Shut up.' his Master suggested.

'Of course.' Scapegrace bowed again.

His Master sighed. 'If you must know, we're meeting a few people here.'

'Who?'

'I thought I told you to shut up.'

'Sorry.'

Scapegrace shut up then. They waited in that very spot for a few more minutes, and then saw three figures approaching. Scapegrace squinted to look at them through the thick fog that was suddenly in the air, but, since he wasn't blessed with the greatest eyesight in the world, he couldn't make out their faces. He knew, though, that there was one man and two women among the group.

'Glad you could finally make it.' his Master muttered gruffly, and he heard a familiar laugh.

'Of course we made it, silly. Just not on time- did you really expect us to be punctual?' Tanith Low laughed again. She still wore the same brown leathers as she always did, but Scapegrace knew that she wasn't the same as she ever had been. She was still possessed by a remnant- this fact was given away by her blackened lips and the veins of the same colour that spread all over her skin. Her blonde hair whipped wildly across her face.

Standing next to Tanith Low was Billy-Ray Sanguine. He wore very large and dark sunglasses- probably to hide the fact that he had no eyes. He was grinning widely, showing off a set of perfect white teeth. His arm was around Remnant-Tanith's waist.

But the third person in the group surprised Scapegrace. It was someone who he hadn't been expecting to see here, at all.

It was Valkyrie Cain.

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Again. When will I ever leave you with answered questions? ;)  
>Sorry I didn't update yesterday- I was super busy.<br>As it is, I've just walked aimlessly for literally twelve miles (charity thing- don't ask), so I'm slightly exhausted, and you're rather lucky I updated today. My fingers ache from carrying a pair of walking boots around with me. **

**Anyway. My sincere apologies, but there will be no updates tomorrow (Saturday 24th September), either. I'll be at my dad's, where there is no internet, therefore no website to visit.  
>Sorry!<br>Anyway, onto better subjects. Hope you liked the chapter!  
>Don't worry, Valkyrie's not turned to the bad side... all will be revealed next chapter! Woo!<br>Thanks for the reviews... feel free to keep them coming. They make me happier than cookies served on a silver platter.  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	7. Vampire Issues

**Chapter 7. **

'C-Cain?' Scapegrace whimpered, staring at the dark-haired girl.

Cain turned her head and looked at him. There was something different about her, something that Scapegrace couldn't quite place...

Three sets of loud laughter suddenly surrounded Scapegrace, and he jumped in surprise.

'Of course that's not Cain,' Billy-Ray Sanguine chortled, 'd'you really think that little goody-goody would join us? No, _this_ little beauty is her reflection.'

'Little beauty?' Remnant-Tanith pouted. 'More beautiful than me?'

'Of course not.'

The couple shared a quick kiss, much to Scapegrace's disgust and confusion.

'Reflection?' Scapegrace asked, confused. Why would Cain's reflection be a part of this group?

Cain's reflection nodded. 'Yes.' it said, then it paused. 'Though I would much prefer you to call me Stephanie.'

'Stephanie?'

'It's what my parents call me.'

Scapegrace glanced at his Master wearily. 'It has parents?'

His Master growled lowly. '_She_ has taken up full residence with Cain's parents. You're on our side, though, aren't you, Stephanie?'

Stephanie nodded. 'I am.'

Scapegrace wanted to ask why, but he had a feeling his question wouldn't be greeted so well. He decided to just go with it, for now, even if he was uncomfortable with being this close to a thing that looked exactly like the woman who tormented him constantly.

Remnant-Tanith giggled slightly. 'Well, isn't this fun? Aren't we having a fun time here?'

'We are, honey-pie.' Sanguine murmured, snaking an arm around the blonde's leather-clad waist.

Scapegrace's Master rolled his eyes. 'Stop talking. We must make our plans today. Vaurien Scapegrace here is a zombie, and he's agreed to help us.'

The other three looked faintly surprised at this, even the reflection. Even though Scapegrace was sure that reflections weren't supposed to have any kind of feelings... or tendencies to join groups...

'Does he even know what he's helping us with?' Remnant-Tanith asked with a raised eyebrow.

His Master chuckled. 'Of course not. That's why he's with us today.'

'You're going to tell me?' Scapegrace asked hopefully.

'Of course. But all in good time.' his Master promised.

Scapegrace decided he was okay with waiting.

**HL**

Valkyrie was on a walk.

It was only a short walk, around the dirty streets of Roarhaven, but it was a walk, all the same. She only needed to stretch her legs a little, enjoy the dirty Ireland air.

She glanced up at the darkening sky. It was nearly night. The rain would start up again soon, she just knew it. She felt the wind whipping her hair around her face and smiled slightly. Much as she had loved the Californian sun back in America, she actually enjoyed the chilly Irish weather just as much. It felt homely.

She had gotten changed, fully this time, into her fighting outfit. Tight black tank, tight black jeans, black boots and long black coat.

Clearly, her favourite colour hadn't changed at all in the last four years.

Her staff was, as usual, inside her coat. It fit surprisingly well.

Valkyrie was thinking about things that seemed normal to her- the weather, the Sanctuary, her friends- when she heard the noise. A horrible noise, one that she didn't like. It was nasally and loud, and it came from behind her.

She whirled to face it, and came face-to-face with a man. He had extremely pale skin and a mess of pale-blond hair on his head. His grey eyes stared intently at her, and Valkyrie noted the look of fierce determination in them. He was good-looking, sort of... in a frosty, cold kind of way.

Not Valkyrie's type at all.

She frowned at him. 'Did _you _make that noise?'

He didn't say anything, just watched her intently. She felt uncomfortable under his gaze, like she was a deer, stuck in the headlights.

Valkyrie didn't like the feeling.

But then, finally, he spoke. 'Darquesse.' he said, still staring at her.

Valkyrie let out her breath and rolled her eyes. 'Dear god,' she muttered, 'I haven't even been here for a day yet, and already someone's cottoned onto that. Can you not just give me a break? Please? At least so I can unpack first?'

The man growled. 'You're obviously not Darquesse _yet_.'

'Thank you ever so much for noticing.'

'But you will be soon.'

'I gathered that.'

'Do you know what I am?'

Valkyrie nodded slowly. Yes, she did. 'You're a vampire.' she guessed.

'And do you know what the time of day is?'

She bit her lip, realizing her situation. 'Ah. Yes. It's nearly night...'

'Not nearly, Darquesse. It _is _night.'

'Why are you here?'

'To find you.'

She snorted. 'Obviously. I mean, why are you _still _here? Okay, you found me. You know I'm not Darquesse yet, you know I'm still Valkyrie Cain, and will remain so for as long as is possible. Is there anything else you need?'

'To find you.'

Valkyrie frowned again. 'Unless... ah. Did someone send you? Someone sent you, to find me... well, you can go back to them now. Tell them I said hello.'

'I am to bring you back.'

'I'm afraid you can't do that.'

'And I'm afraid the moon is coming out. It's night-time, Valkyrie Cain.'

She nodded again, backing away slowly as the vampire brought his hands to his face.

'Ah.' she said. 'About that. Is there any chance that you might have... I don't know, taken any kind of serum tonight?'

He didn't reply. He simply dug his fingers into his own flesh and tore it away, revealing chalky white skin and beady black eyes. He continued to pull until all of his relatively-human flesh was gone, replaced with the hideous form of a vampire.

'Oh. I take that as a no, then.'

The vampire snarled and lunged for Valkyrie. She cursed and brought her fist up to meet his jaw. It wasn't particularly effective and she ended up being tackled to the ground, the vampire's teeth bared and going for her neck.

She struggled underneath it, using her hand to push its face away from her neck. It was strong, though, and seemed to be forgetting its orders. If it kept this up, Darquesse wouldn't be appearing in the near future at all- or ever.

She let out a cry when she felt sharp claws swipe at her abdomen, and glanced down to see that the vampire was clawing at her stomach. She felt the hot pain and the warm trickle of blood as it slowly dripped down her.

It had gotten past her protective clothing.

She knew she should have asked Ghastly to make her new ones.

Summoning a flame in her hand, Valkyrie pressed it to the vampires face. It snarled and jumped back, giving Valkyrie the space to roll out from under it and get quickly to her feet, clutching the wound in her stomach.

'Are you sure you want to try and kill Darquesse?' she asked cautiously, eyes wide and her breath heavy. She ducked under another swipe of the claws. 'I suppose I _would _be rather tasty.' she muttered.

The vampire was in a frenzy now, smelling her freshly spilled blood. It snarled at her and leapt for her again, only to be knocked back by a hard kick to the stomach.

And then Valkyrie ran.

She ran as fast as she could with the wounds in her stomach, desperately trying to think of whether or not there was a pier or a beach in Roarhaven.

There wasn't.

But there _was_ a salt-water river, just outside of Roarhaven. That was her best bet, the only thing that could offer her a hope of surviving this attack. She had left her phone in her room.

She sprinted even faster when she noticed that the vampire was chasing her. She was speedy, yes, but so was the vampire.

She managed to make it to the river, only to have her legs knocked out from under her. She cursed again as she collided with the ground, only inches away from the river. She could crawl. She could crawl to the river, she decided, even with a vampire dragging her backwards.

Easier said than done.

She kicked out wildly as she felt a cold hand wrap around her ankle and try and pull her back. She knew that if she wasn't so close to the river, the vampire would be making a more full-on attack right now.

As it was, he was trying to avoid being suffocated by the salty fumes. Smart vampire.

One of Valkyrie's kicks hit the vampire squarely in the nose, and she used the moment to push herself forward and dive into the river.

She gasped as she felt her body become engulfed in the icy water. It went into her mouth, and she had never been so thankful to taste the saltiness of the water in her life.

She kicked her legs so her head broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. She shook the water from her face and opened her eyes. She was dismayed to see that the vampire hadn't actually followed her into the water and was waiting impatiently on dry land, but still, she was relieved that she wasn't still being attacked. The gash in her stomach where the vampire's claws had made contact with her flesh stung, even more so because of the salt water that was leaking into the open wound. Valkyrie was surprised that the vampire, in its animalistic form, had enough common sense to stay away from the water. She hadn't known they would actually be smart enough to do that.

'Clever boy.' she murmured, only to receive an angry growl from the glaring vampire. 'What?' she asked innocently, paddling around in the water. 'You actually are. How did you know to stay away from the water?'

She hadn't been expecting a response, and she didn't get one. But she _did _need a plan. She couldn't exactly just stay in this river until morning, with an angry vampire prowling around, waiting for the moment she emerged.

So she decided that shouting would be her best bet, and she hoped that her voice was loud enough.

'_Help_!' Valkyrie roared at the top of her voice. '_Help me!_'

**HL**

Blade clicked his finger, summoning a flame, and stared at it for a few seconds before extinguishing it, then summoning it again. He had been doing this for a few minutes now, simply because he was bored.

Valkyrie was out- for a walk, she had said. Blade had rolled his eyes. Trust Valkyrie to go out for a walk at nightfall, in the most unfriendly town that Blade had ever heard of.

'Bored?' an amused voice brought him out of his thoughts, and made him glance up. His brother was smirking at him. Blade scowled at Hades.

'Can't you tell?' he asked dryly.

The whole group- Blade, Hades, Willow, Hazel and Maddox- were in Willow's room. It was identical to the rooms of the others. They had originally met up in there with Valkyrie, but she had left out of boredom. She had, unfortunately, told the others that they weren't to leave the Sanctuary, but were free to roam around the building as they liked.

'We all are.' Hades agreed. 'So why won't you come walk round this place with us?'

'Because I'm not in a very walking mood.' Blade replied, summoning another flame.

He heard Willow tut and looked at her. She was glaring at him. 'Blade, that's downright lazy.'

Blade simply shrugged. 'That's me.'

'Get your ass out the door, princess.' Hades smirked.

Blade rolled his eyes and, exaggerating his reluctance, got to his feet. He then shuffled towards the door, glaring at the others. 'Happy now?' he asked.

Willow beamed. 'Immensely.'

They walked. And they walked, and they walked. It was all the same to Blade- boring and grey. The place, in his opinion, could really use some colour. They saw Skulduggery and noticed he had his phone pressed to his... skull, and he seemed to be talking rapidly into it. Blade didn't care much who the skeleton detective was talking to.

'Hazel.' Maddox suddenly snapped. 'Stop staring at Mr Pleasant.'

Blade glanced back in time to see Hazel quickly averting her brown eyes. Out of all of them, her and Willow had seemed to be most unnerved by the talking skeleton who was best friends with Valkyrie.

Skulduggery snapped his phone shut and Blade suddenly felt as if he was being stared at. Skulduggery stopped them.

'Where's Valkyrie?' he asked.

'She went for a walk.' Hades answered before Blade could.

'A walk?' Skulduggery's voice held a frown. 'Where?'

Blade shrugged. 'Around Roarhaven. Told us we weren't to leave the Sanctuary while she was gone and all that. Why? Did you want to speak to her?'

'No, I just... I'm sure it's nothing.' he sounded worried and dubious.

'What's nothing?' Willow chirped. 'Is there a problem?'

Skulduggery shook his head. 'I have a feeling.'

Hades snorted. 'Are you a seer?'

'No.'

'Then I don't think any feelings you might be getting about Valkyrie should be considered at length.'

Blade frowned at his brother. 'Dude, shut up.'

Hades only chuckled. 'Just saying.'

Blade turned back to Skulduggery, curious. 'What kind of feeling?'

'The same kind of feeling I always get when she's in trouble.'

Hades then burst out laughing. 'What? A _gut _feeling?'

Everyone apart from Skulduggery slapped a palm to their head.

'Stop making jokes.' Skulduggery ordered Hades. 'That's my job.'

'Okay... _Funny Bones_.' Hades chuckled.

'Seriously, stop it.' Blade warned.

'Just having some fun, is all.' Hades grinned. 'I'm done now... as long as you stop setting them up, the puns will stop.'

Skulduggery, it seemed, was now ignoring the cocky twenty year-old and looked at Blade, his eye sockets seeming to stare at him. 'I think she might be in danger.'

Blade was doubtful. 'You're getting all worried? Because of a feeling?'

'Valkyrie is like a daughter to me.' Skulduggery replied immediately. 'I tend to know when she is in danger.'

Blade looked at the others. Willow shrugged, Hades frowned, Hazel pursed her lips, and Maddox smiled slightly.

'You know what I think?' Maddox said. 'I think Mr Pleasant is right.'

'Call me Skulduggery.' Skulduggery interrupted, only to be ignored.

'If there's a possibility that Valkyrie might be in danger, I say we go find her.' Blade smiled slightly.

'Duh.' Willow grinned.

'Did she say where she was going?' Skulduggery asked, already walking on at a quick pace. Blade and the others hurried to catch up with him.

'Just out.' Blade shrugged. 'I guess she'll just be around Roarhaven.'

They stepped out of the Sanctuary, and suddenly they all heard something that made them freeze in their place.

'_Help me! For god's sake, help!' _

It was Valkyrie.

Blade started sprinting toward the continuing shouts immediately, closely followed by Skulduggery and the others.

'It sounds like it's coming from pretty far away!' Willow yelled.

'It is!' Blade agreed. 'So run!'

'_Skulduggery! Blade, Hades, Willow, Hazel, Maddox! Anyone! It's a vampire!' _

Blade frowned at that. He'd had to fight vampires before, with Valkyrie. He knew how you had to lead them into salt water to kill them... so why hadn't Valkyrie done that?

'_Help_!'

'Val, _shut up_!' Hades suddenly yelled, more loud than Blade had thought was possible. '_We're freaking coming, okay?_'

There was a pause in Valkyrie's shouts, before, '_Wait, wait, it's okay! You guys can, like, go or something!' _

Blade frowned and looked at the others, all of whom gave him an equally bewildered look. They didn't slow their pace as they ran until they reached Valkyrie, and each of them froze in place at the scene before them.

Valkyrie was swimming in a lake- presumably salt-water- and watching with wide eyes as a handsome man with dark hair and pale skin fought with a vampire.

'It's, uh... hey.' Valkyrie said lamely when she saw us. She gestured to the fighting pair. 'Uh, I was being chased by a vampire, then Caelen here came, and... you know.' she smiled weakly. 'Happy days, huh?'

Skulduggery, Blade noticed, stiffened at the mention of this Caelen person. Who was he?

'Valkyrie,' the skeleton said slowly. 'You do realize that getting a vampire to help you defeat another vampire is probably a bad move, don't you?'

Blade eyes widened. 'What the hell are you talking about?'

Valkyrie's gaze flickered toward him for a second, but Blade was otherwise ignored.

She frowned. 'Well, to be honest, I was a little distracted by the snarling vampire fight and the gaping wound in my stomach to take much notice of the rights and wrongs of life. I hope you understand.' she said dryly, swimming toward the edge of the lake and staring at the fighting vampires.

'Stop him.' she whispered, but the sound carried through the night towards the group. 'He could kill him. We don't want him becoming more of a social outcast than he is now.'

Social outcast? A vampire that hadn't changed at night? Gaping wound? _What_? Blade was confused. He withdrew two knives from the belt around his waist and sprang into action at the same time as the others. He threw one of the knives toward the vampire that had shed its skin and was proud to see that, as usual, his knife had hit its target. The vampire was stabbed in the arm and let out a roar, turning to look at Blade, who was now wishing that he had brought more than two knives with him. The other vampire, the one who was in its human form, lay on the ground, still and bleeding from several places.

Skulduggery clicked his gloved fingers, summoning a flame, and wasted no time in throwing it at the now rapidly-approaching vampire. It snarled and staggered back slightly before running forward again.

Hades had pulled up his coat sleeve and was quickly tapping symbols on his arm. Suddenly, a pale green light surrounded the group, not including Valkyrie, and the vampire was knocked backwards when he tried to run past it.

A protection ward.

The problem, though, was that none of the people shielded by it could move past it, either.

'Oh, crap, Valkyrie was meant to be included.' Hades muttered under his breath.

'Hades!' Blade hissed. 'Put it down!'

He was ignored, and so he squinted, trying to look past the green light, and his eyes widened when he saw a pale shape moving toward a darker figure, which had just emerged from the water.

**HL**

'Oh, thanks, guys.' Valkyrie muttered under her breath upon seeing the whole group being shielded within one of Hades' protection wards.

She was now standing, dripping with salty water, in front of a vampire.

She didn't see the point in stalling any more. She attacked.

She snapped her palm out in front of her, splaying the air to her advantage, smiling in satisfaction when the vampire was knocked backwards.

But her smile dropped when she realized she had made a wrong move in doing that. She had moved the vampire _further _away from the salt water, not closer. Damn.

She sprinted toward the vampire while fumbling around in her pocket, letting out a relieved breath when she felt her cold Necromancer ring touch her finger. She quickly slipped it on, and immediately felt the cool shadows surround her like eager servants, ready to obey her command. With a simple gesture of her hand, the shadows were flying toward the vampire and tendrils of darkness had wrapped themselves around its ankles and its wrists. It was bound by the darkness. With a flick of Valkyrie's wrist, the vampire was sent spinning toward the water. All it took then was a simple kick from Valkyrie, and the vampire had been dropped into the salty water. It rasped and struggled for a moment before it went still.

The vampire was dead- and Valkyrie was exhausted.

She glanced over at the now-fading pale green light, and smiled at the group as they were released from the shield's hold.

She then felt a sharp stab of pain from her stomach.

And then she collapsed.

**A/N: Woo, new chapter, yay and stuff.  
>Hope you liked! I don't like leaving you guys on cliffhangers... but then, I do. So, enjoy. :)<br>The next chapter contains slight spoilers for Death Bringer- nothing particularly big or relevant to Derek's book (Which, it's obvious, I do not own), but it's in there, so yes. Just a little pre-warning.  
>My sincere apologies to all the Valduggery fans, but the only Valduggery relationship I could ever see was a father-daughter one! But there will be special moments just for you guys, so, yay and stuff. :)<br>Thank you for the reviews! Fifteen already? I'm touched. ;) Thank you so much!  
>See you all next chapter...<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	8. Hospital Bed

**Chapter 8. **

They rushed to her side immediately. Well, everyone except for Skulduggery, that is.

'Is she going to be okay?' Hades asked, unexpected worry in his voice.

Skulduggery looked at them, then looked at Valkyrie. He finally moved, walking towards his ex-partner, and examined the wound on her stomach thoughtfully. The marks looked like claw marks- it seemed that the vampire had swiped at her stomach. But it was no clean cut- no, it was more like the vampire had tried to make a hole in Valkyrie's stomach, and had nearly succeeded. It was still bleeding.

'It does look bad.' Skulduggery admitted. 'But she should be healed if we get her to the Sanctuary doctor immediately.'

'And who is that?' Hazel asked, looking at the skeleton detective.

He hesitated. 'That's not important right now. Let's just get her there.'

'Wait!' Willow said. They all looked at her. She swallowed and gestured to the unconscious Caelan, laying a few metres away from them. 'Shouldn't we bring him with us?'

Skulduggery snorted and shook his head. 'God, no. I don't want _him _anywhere near Valkyrie.'

'Why?' Blade asked with a frown.

'Personal reasons.' Skulduggery said simply. 'Just leave him- he's a vampire, he'll be fine.'

Blade snapped his palm at the air and suddenly Valkyrie was lifted, suspended in mid-air. 'Why carry her when you can float her?' he said at everyone's sharp looks.

'Don't you dare drop her.' Maddox warned with a slight smile.

Blade rolled his eyes. 'I wasn't planning on it.'

**HL**

Valkyrie awoke painfully. As soon as her eyes flew open, she felt a painful throb in her head. Another headache. She had been getting a lot of those lately.

There was also a little pain in her stomach. She was momentarily confused, but then the memories of earlier on came flooding back, and understanding flashed through her. The vampire. The river. Caelan. Skulduggery.

She groaned and rolled to her side, her hand flying to her temple to try in vain to soothe the throbbing pain.

'Ah, you're awake.' a nasally voice said from behind her. 'Welcome back.'

Valkyrie's eyes widened and she immediately flipped to her other side, already sitting up. She recognised that voice- oh, that god damn voice...

'Nye.' she said coldly, her eyes narrowing. She glanced around, observing her surroundings- odd, she seemed to be in the Sanctuary hospital. But Nye was here. That could only mean... she growled lowly at the thought. No way. _No. Way. _There was no chance of Erskine or Ghastly or Skulduggery ever letting Nye _work _here. It was impossible...

Wasn't it?

Kenspeckle was dead, and if Valkyrie was being honest, the only person that she knew of who could match his skill level was Nye.

Nye smiled widely at her. 'Feeling better?'

'I was until I saw you.' she retorted. 'Now, I'm afraid I feel rather nauseous. Won't that scab in the place of your nose ever heal over?'

Its smile dropped and Nye's yellow eyes narrowed into slits. 'Why, you little-'

'She's awake!' Nye's possible threat was interrupted by Willow Arawn's excited voice. All of a sudden, Valkyrie's hospital bed was surrounded by people. She looked around and saw that they were Willow, Hades, Blade, Hazel and Maddox. Skulduggery wasn't there, she noticed. She smiled at them, ignoring the pain in her head.

'Hey.' she greeted quietly, then looked at Nye, her smile gone. 'Why are you here, Nye?'

It grinned again. 'Why, dear Valkyrie, I _work _here. Surely you knew?'

She shook her head slowly, her suspicions confirmed. Damn. That wasn't good.

Willow visibly shuddered when Nye spoke, and Valkyrie heard her whisper to Maddox, 'Damn, that thing is _vile_.'

She couldn't help but agree with the younger girl there.

Nye's head snapped toward Willow and it hissed, but Nye was ignored.

'You feeling okay, Val? That vampire got you pretty bad in your stomach.' Hades said, causing Valkyrie to give him a strange look. Was that concern in his voice, genuine concern?

'I'm fine, Hades.' she smiled. 'Thank you for your concern.'

He said nothing, just looked at her.

'You should be fully healed in around twenty four hours.' Nye said. 'There will, fortunately for you, be no scarring.'

'Done any soul-searching lately?' Valkyrie asked it casually, smirking at its scowl.

'Do not tempt me, child.'

She snorted. 'I am hardly a child any more. Can you go now? Your presence makes me uncomfortable.'

It sneered. 'Of course.' it said, and turned on its heel and stalked away on its ridiculously long legs.

'That thing creeps me out, big time.' Maddox said as soon as Nye was gone.

Valkyrie nodded. 'Nearly killed me once.'

'It did?'

'Oh, yeah. But then I nearly killed it, so I guess we're even.'

'Skulduggery came to see you while you were, you know, unconscious. Then he left, saying he had stuff to do.' Blade said, smiling at her.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Was he really that cryptic, or is that just your amazing eloquence kicking in?'

Blade scowled. 'He was that cryptic.'

She nodded. 'That's okay, I guess.' then she frowned, remembering something. 'What did you guys do with Caelan? The other vampire. Is he here?'

Each and every one of them stiffened. 'No. We left him.' Hades replied.

Valkyrie stared at them. '_What_?' she fumed. 'You saw that he was hurt, and you _left him_? You left an injured _vampire _by a salt-water river? Are you stupid?'

'Skulduggery told us he didn't want that vampire anywhere near you.' Hazel shrugged. 'We weren't in much of an arguing mood.'

Valkyrie bit her lip. 'What time is it? How long has it been since I passed out?'

'Two hours.' Blade answered immediately. 'And don't worry, Val. Me and Maddox went back to check if he was still there, and he'd gone.'

'He could have been taken.'

'I'm pretty sure that didn't happen.'

Valkyrie sighed, and nodded. 'Yeah. Okay, fine. Thank you, by the way, for coming to me.' she smiled. 'How did you know I was in trouble? Was I really shouting that loud?'

They all exchanged a look. 'Actually, it was Skulduggery who... he kind of _sensed _that you were in danger.' Blade explained.

Valkyrie raised a dark eyebrow. '_Sensed_? How does that work?'

Hades shrugged. 'Beats me. It actually creeped me out. Anyway, how are you doing?'

'You already asked me that.'

'I'm asking again.'

'My answer now is the same as it was five minutes ago.' Valkyrie smiled. 'Really, I'm fine. Where's Skulduggery?'

Hazel hesitated. 'Well, he was trying to get Ravel to give you a different doctor.'

'I take it it didn't work.'

'No.' Maddox admitted. 'But Skulduggery did get to punch Nye. He was here, actually, until he got called away. Then we left, too, and then came back.'

Valkyrie grinned. 'You stayed with me?'

Blade chuckled, his dark hair falling in front of his eyes. 'Of course we did. We weren't exactly going to leave you on your own with _Nye_.'

'Right.' Valkyrie nodded. 'And thank you for that.'

'Don't mention it.'

**HL**

'What is it that was so important, Fletcher?' Skulduggery asked the Teleporter impatiently.

Fletcher rolled his eyes impatiently, practically bouncing on his feet. 'They said they saw her- in the Sanctuary. We could finally have a lead!' he announced, a big grin stretching across his face.

Fletcher Renn had been searching for Valkyrie since she left Dublin four years ago. He was twenty-three years old now, and his Teleporter powers had developed somewhat. He could go anywhere he wanted now- with, of course, a few exceptions. As long as he had _seen_ the place, Fletcher could go there. If he didn't know what it looked like, he couldn't. It was as simple as that.

Skulduggery frowned at Fletcher, and for once, it wasn't because of the boy's ridiculous blond hair. Seriously. It was like a demented porcupine. It was ridiculous.

The skeleton detective didn't know how to tell Fletcher that he already knew Valkyrie was back and that the pair could even go and see her now. But Skulduggery didn't know how Valkyrie would react to seeing Skulduggery appear by her hospital bed, Fletcher at his side. After all, Valkyrie could have a boyfriend or something now. The whole situation would be remarkably awkward.

But, he had to admit, it would be nice to have Fletcher finally shut up and stop searching, even though Skulduggery had always secretly hoped Fletcher's search efforts would one day come back a success. But now, of course, it wasn't necessary. Valkyrie was back, in full health.

Skulduggery sighed. He knew what he would do. He'd give Fletcher an excuse, then he'd go back to Valkyrie and make sure she was okay with him letting Fletcher see her, then things would go on as they would with her decision. It was a simple solution.

'I've just been at the Sanctuary.' Skulduggery said. 'I haven't seen her.'

Fletcher's face fell and when he spoke, his voice was quiet. 'Maybe you just missed her.'

'I'm sure I didn't.'

'Why don't we double check?'

'There's nothing to check for. Is this why you called me? To bring me back here? Because I really have to go. You interrupted a meeting.' Skulduggery lied.

Fletcher sighed and nodded. He looked sad. Skulduggery sighed and added, 'But if I do see her, I'll let you know.'

Fletcher looked at him and grinned. 'Thanks.'

Skulduggery didn't reply. He just got back in his Bentley and drove back to Roarhaven.

**HL**

Valkyrie Cain was bored.

The others had left, returned to their rooms, to do whatever the hell they wanted to do. Only Blade had stayed. His hand squeezed Valkyrie's, and she offered him a smile.

'I can't wait to get out of this bed.' she muttered, sitting up and ignoring her headache.

Blade grinned. 'I bet all this sitting around isn't doing much for you. You never really were the sitting type.'

'Not really.' Valkyrie admitted with a small smile. She noticed that her Necromancy ring was still around her finger, and she played with it absently. She didn't know how many times it had saved her life now- she couldn't count. She was grateful for the influence that Necromancy had over her life, her powers... she just wished the magic didn't come from death. It was a disturbing prospect.

Her thoughts were interrupted by one Skulduggery Pleasant strolling through the doors to the Sanctuary hospital. She couldn't help but grin. He wasn't wearing his façade, and his hat was tipped back on his skull. A sign of concern.

'Are you okay?' he demanded in his velvety voice.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'I am.' then she frowned. 'Are you?'

He shrugged. 'Doing better than you.'

She chuckled and glanced at Blade. 'Thank you for staying, but.. you can go now, if you want.'

He nodded and smiled. 'Of course.' he said, getting to his feet and striding out.

Valkyrie turned back to Skulduggery.

He didn't waste time in asking what he wanted to ask. 'Valkyrie, Fletcher knows you're back. He wants to see you. I had to tell him you weren't here.'

She frowned. 'How does he know?'

'You're the talk of the country, apparently. Everyone is talking about how the great Valkyrie Cain is back in the Sanctuary.'

'Wow.' she breathed. 'News travels fast here. I almost forgot about that.'

'I do have a feeling Fletcher is going to be on my case all week if I continue to tell him you're not here.' Skulduggery said lowly. 'Would you be okay seeing him, just to get him to _shut up_? He hasn't stopped looking for you since you left.'

Valkyrie smiled at that news. How sweet. Maybe she should have warned Fletcher not to waste his life looking for her.

'I suppose it can be arranged.' she decided.

'Excellent.' Skulduggery said, then he paused. 'Glad to see you sitting up, by the way. I was worried.'

'You shouldn't be.' Valkyrie replied. 'I can take care of myself.'

'I can see that now.'

'In fact, you shouldn't have even brought me here. If anything, seeing Nye only made me worse.'

'Sorry about that.'

She sighed. 'It's done, and I'm bored. Can I leave?'

'If you feel up to it. Don't strain yourself.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'What did we just discuss?'

Skulduggery tilted his skull down. 'Sorry.'

She sighed and moved herself so she was off the bed and standing on her feet. 'Nye said I shouldn't move yet.' she admitted. 'But god, it feels so good to stand.'

'Maybe you should sit back down.'

'No. That hospital bed is boring.'

'Must you be so stubborn?'

'Yes.'

He sighed impatiently. 'Fine. I'm going to call Fletcher and tell him that you are, in fact, here.'

'Go ahead.'

'I'm going to do that now.'

'Have fun.'

Valkyrie smiled as she watched him go. Then she glanced around to make sure no one was watching as she walked slowly out of the hospital room. She didn't even care that she was in a hospital gown. She had her clothes in her room.

It felt nice to stretch her legs, after a good few hours in a hospital bed.

Valkyrie was never the most patient of people.

**HL**

'We need to bring Darquesse _out _of the Cain girl.' Scapegrace's Master said, his voice a slight growl.

It was only a few minutes ago that Scapegrace discovered that _Valkyrie Cain_ was Darquesse, and the discovery had shocked him. Now, it made sense. All that anger and violence- it could only really belong to a maniac who would grow up to kill the world.

'We figured that much.' Remnant-Tanith said sarcastically.

'But how?' Sanguine asked, biting his lip in frustration.

'Ordinarily, I would suggest using a bait- her parents or her little sister or something.' Remnant-Tanith shrugged. 'But then, she wouldn't be able to do it herself when the time came. A sort of paradox.'

'I like that idea.' Master said slowly. 'I like it a lot. But, as you say, who would we use?'

'That idea has hit a dead end.' Sanguine said with a wave of his hand. 'Why don't we try something else? Like, I don't know, torturing her to the point of death so Darquesse can come loose to save the day?' he chuckled. 'Or, you know, _kill _the day?'

Master snorted, then paused. 'Actually,' he said, 'that's not a half bad idea.'

'Really?' Remnant-Tanith asked exasperatedly, throwing her arms in the air. 'That's the best you can come up with?'

'What?' Sanguine asked defensively.

Scapegrace kept quiet. He liked the idea of Cain being tortured, but really, he wasn't too keen to see this Darquesse come out. She didn't sound like a very nice person.

'When you come up with a better idea, we can talk.' Master growled. Remnant-Tanith scowled and crossed her arms.

'But how would we torture someone who gets into fights on a daily basis?' Sanguine worried.

Master shrugged. 'We'll figure something out.'

'So it's settled?' Remnant-Tanith frowned. 'Just like that?'

Master shrugged. 'Just like that.'

**A/N: Muahahaha.  
>I finally updated, le yay! :D Sorry for the wait. Life was being busy and all.<br>Hope you liked this! It took me forever to write, which is weird. So, the evil group (any suggestions on a name for that? Evil group sounds so... blargh.) are trying to lure Darquesse out. What do you think of that?  
>Also, who's excited for the meeting between Fletcher and Valkyrie? Hell, I am, and I'm writing it.<br>Thanks for the reviews! :D  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	9. Discussing Theories

**Chapter 9. **

'Careful.' Skulduggery muttered, holding out a steadying hand when Valkyrie's bare feet slipped against the cold floor. She simply rolled her eyes and gave him a look.

'I've been through far worse than this, Skulduggery. I can walk without assistance, I assure you.'

He tilted his skull to the side in a manner which Valkyrie knew meant he was smiling. 'It never hurts to be sure.'

She rolled her eyes again but let a chuckle escape her lips as they reached her room. Skulduggery let out a low whistle, leaving Valkyrie momentarily confused. Skeletons could whistle?

'This is it?' he asked, slight disappointment in his voice.

'This is it.' she echoed, a smile in her voice but a smirk on her face. 'What were you expecting, rainbow colours and sparkling unicorn stickers?'

He tutted and glanced at the other rooms. 'Trust you lot to get the ones with the fancy _gold_ numbering.'

Valkyrie laughed and stuck her tongue out. 'It's because we're special.'

'In every single way.'

She laughed again, then stopped and looked at Skulduggery seriously. 'I assume we'll start our official work on the case tomorrow morning?'

He nodded. 'You assume correctly.'

She nodded and said nothing, just stood there. She looked at him. He looked at her. There was a few moments of silence before Skulduggery said, 'Valkyrie?'

'Yes?'

He hesitated for only a moment. 'I really am very glad you're back.'

She smiled a serene smile. 'Me too, Skulduggery. Me too.'

'It's getting late. Get some sleep.'

'I already got two whole hours of it, thank you very much.'

He sighed. '_Proper_ sleep. God knows we're going to work you to death with this case.'

She frowned. 'Please don't.'

He chuckled. 'No promises.' he patted her shoulder awkwardly. In truth, neither of the two were very good at letting their emotions show. 'Goodnight.' he said.

She suppressed a loud laugh at his awkwardness and instead grinned. 'Goodnight.'

**HL**

****Flashback****

_Valkyrie Cain's reflection had had enough. _

_It was tired of being treated like it had no feelings, like it really was just an _it_, a thing that deserved no more sympathy or praise than a rock. _

_It was when the reflection- or, as it liked to be called, Stephanie- learned that Valkyrie Cain was leaving for America, and probably never coming back, it was over the moon. Now she could finally take the spotlight, be treated like a real person _all _the time. _

_By the end of the first week, Stephanie was possibly the happiest reflection in the world. And not just because normal reflections couldn't _be_ happy. _

_Valkyrie's parents knew little difference between Stephanie and Valkyrie. In their minds, they were the same person- just a little off on some days. And now they thought that the off days were days when the _real _Valkyrie was with them, a fact that thrilled Stephanie to no end. _

_Skulduggery Pleasant and the others came a-knocking when they realized they hadn't seen Valkyrie Cain in days, of course. Stephanie did her job as she was supposed to- she his the note from her parents and then showed it to Skulduggery. What she hadn't expected, though, was for the skeleton detective to become furious and lash out, punching Stephanie in the jaw. _

_Hard. _

_It was moments like these when Stephanie almost regretted having feelings... almost. Skulduggery Pleasant left Stephanie's room without even apologizing, something which the reflection thought was remarkably rude. _

_Fletcher Renn appeared several times also, asking where Valkyrie was and practically begging for information. When Stephanie refused to tell the Teleporter anything, Fletcher got angry, too. He left, cursing about Stephanie being just a pointless, stupid reflection. It hurt Stephanie's feelings. Once again, she found herself hating the fact that such a wonderful thing as having actual human emotions came with the additional baggage of feeling pain, both physical and emotional. _

_No other magical people visited after that, and Stephanie was almost thankful. She didn't want to face any more punches or harsh words. _

_Life went on as it was supposed to. Valkyrie's family didn't even notice she was missing, and Stephanie's baby sister, Alice, grew up fast. _

_It was after the first two years that Stephanie was, once again, approached by magic folk. She was actually grateful when they didn't lash out and hurt her, but she was still weary. The man was ugly and had a thick London accent. The woman, Stephanie recognised. She had long blonde hair and a soft yet cruel smile, her body clad in brown leather. Tanith Low. _

_'Who are you?' Stephanie asked bluntly when they made no move to speak. Her parents and her sister were downstairs. They thought she was doing homework. _

_The man smiled. 'I'm sure you know us by now, darling.' _

_Stephanie blinked and looked at Tanith. 'I know you.' she said. She looked at the man. 'But I don't know you, sir. Can I help you?' _

_The man chuckled. 'Ever so polite, isn't she, Tanith?' _

_'Oh, wait till you see her when she's riled up. It's a wonderful sight to behold.' Tanith grinned, and Stephanie wasn't surprised when her lips were suddenly black and veins of the same colour were popping out along her pale skin. _

_'Excuse me?' Stephanie asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. _

_'Ah, Tanith,' the man chided. 'She hasn't seen the future yet, unlike some of us. Let her find out in her own time.' _

_'Of course.' Tanith said graciously, smirking. _

_The man looked at Stephanie again. His gaze travelled up and down her body, a slow grin forming on his lips. 'Why, yes, you _do_ look exactly like her. A mirror image- if you'll forgive the pun.' he laughed at his own joke. Stephanie didn't even smile. She had been told not to smile at people who were acting weirld, and she had always thought it was good advice. _

_'Oh, come on, honey, crack a smile.' Tanith urged. 'It might make you feel a little less lonely.' _

_'I'm not lonely.' Stephanie lied. _

_The man waved a hand. 'Of course you're not. Of course you're not. We're here to ask you something- how much do you like obeying Valkyrie Cain?' _

_'I don't.' Stephanie replied immediately. 'Not any more. She's gone, and she's hopefully never coming back.' _

_'Ooh, feisty.' the man murmured. 'I do like this one. Tanith, you do have a fine eye for the recruits.' _

_Stephanie was even more confused at this. Recruits? She had no idea what either of them were talking about. _

_'Why don't we skip to the point?' Tanith suggested.' Listen, reflection-' _

_'Stephanie.' Stephanie corrected. 'I prefer being called Stephanie. _

_Tanith blinked, then smiled. 'Okay. Stephanie. Okay, that's good- you have to have your own free willl, now, don't you? Stephanie- good. We're here to ask you something.' _

_'Please ask.' _

_'How would you like to join us?' the man took over, smiling hungrily at Stephanie. 'You know of Valkyrie Cain and her future as Darquesse, now, don't you?' _

_'Yes.' Stephanie answered. _

_The man nodded. 'Well, that was supposed to happen by now. The problem is, though, that is _hasn't_ happened. But we want it to happen- isn't that right, Tanith?' _

_'It is.' Tanith smirked. _

_'I don't see how I can help you with that.' Stephanie said, frowning. _

_'You just have to join us.' the man said quickly. 'Help us find her- prove you can make your own decisions. That would be nice, wouldn't it? To prove to all those nasty people that you have feelings and can take care of yourself.' _

_Stephanie considered it. Yes, the man was right- that _would _be nice. _

_'Are you saying you can offer me that opportunity?' _

_He sighed and stuck his hand in his trouser pocket, fishing around and finally pulling out a small card. Stephanie recognised it as a playing card- a queen of hearts. He held it out to her with his eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. 'Did we not just gather that? Will you join us or not, darling? We have other people to recruit, you know.' _

_Stephanie only hesitated for a moment. 'Yes.' she said. 'Yes, I'll join you.'_

****Flashback****

Stephanie sighed as she remembered the day she had joined this group- no, they hadn't thought of any special name for it. It was just 'the group'. _He_ liked it simple.

_He_, as it is, had turned out to be an English man who called himself Slash Furious- it was his taken name. Stephanie hadn't liked it at first- it made him seem violent and angry.

She soon realized, however, just how fitting the name was for him. It was when she first saw him kill a man that she knew Slash Furious was not a man to anger.

There never came a day when Stephanie regretted joining the group. She soon became just as eager as they were to bring Darquesse about- what could be better than a ruined, tattered world in which every creature, magical or no, could roam free and do whatever they liked? Stephanie couldn't picture anything better. Her reasons were the same as Tanith Low's- Vaurien Scapegrace was just obeying the man who released him from jail, and Billy-Ray Sanguine was just there because he fancied himself in love with Tanith. Slash had his own reasons- ones that had never been revealed to Stephanie. She knew of his powers, though- oh, his wonderful powers. He was an Adept, trained in the unusual art of being able to track anyone he liked. All he needed was a picture, or a scent, or a voice- he could follow anyone as long as he had some kind of link to it. Stephanie thought the power was amazing- Tanith thought it was boring.

To be honest, though, Stephanie thought _all _magic was amazing. She didn't possess the ability to perform magic herself, and she wished she did. She often liked to imagine all the things she could do if she could summon fire at will like Valkyrie Cain could...

It was while she was pondering this that Stephanie was snapped out of her thoughts and brought back to the present- Slash had just received news, and, apparently, it wasn't good.

He sent the messenger away with an impassive expression. He shook his head slowly as he returned to the group, the only sign that he was angry- no, furious- being the spark of anger flashing in his eyes. His thin lips curled into a grimace.

'Our vampire, it seems, was unable to follow simple instructions- he was killed by Valkyrie Cain in Roarhaven.'

Tanith raised an incredulous eyebrow. 'He was killed by the girl he was sent out there to fetch? Pardon me for asking, but was our vampire stupid? It was such a simple task!'

'Now, now, Tanith. I'm sure Miss Cain was quite a formidable opponent...' Slash sighed. 'I should know.'

There was a note of bitterness in his voice. Stephanie found herself wondering whether Slash realized he had just handed them a piece- albeit a small one- to the puzzle of his life story that Stephanie had spent so long trying to figure out.

**HL**

When Valkyrie awoke the next morning, she felt oddly light and refreshed. There was no headache, no throbbing pain, just... lightness. It was a refreshing change, one that was gladly welcomed. She eased herself up out of bed and let out a slight groan as the usual wave of dizziness hit her, but other than that, the wonderful light feeling continued to make her smile.

_It must be something Nye used, _she mused to herself, _if he wasn't so creepy, I'd thank him. That was the best wake up I've possibly ever gotten. _

She sighed and started picking out her fighting clothes from her closet. She paused when she noticed her black ring laying on her beside table, looking seemingly helpless. It really was hard to believe that such a dark and powerful item could look so small and innocent.

She shrugged it off and got changed. Valkyrie knocked on the doors to the rooms of the others, just to make sure they weren't sleeping in, and she was pleased to see them all appear at their doors, looking alert and wide-awake.

'Is it just me,' she asked as they walked down to Ravel's office. 'or is everyone, including myself, in a particularly good mood this morning?'

Blade grinned. 'It's not just you. I think it's just... I don't know, Ireland. I never knew it would feel so magical.'

'Even in Roarhaven?'

'Even in Roarhaven.'

Valkyrie nodded slowly. 'Well, that makes sense. It _is _a Cradle of Magic.'

Blade smiled a crooked smile and turned his head to make casual conversation with Hazel, and Valkyrie glanced around at the Sanctuary. No, it hadn't changed much at all since she'd left it. A few minor cosmetic improvements, but still, mostly the same. It was wonderful to Valkyrie. Although, she had to admit, the American Sanctuary was much nicer in pretty much every way.

She knocked on the door to Ravel's office without hesitation. She was surprisingly eager to get started on the murder case, and she was curious about these playing cards that were being left with the victims.

They heard a quick, 'Come in,' and entered. Valkyrie smiled at the people in the room- Erskine, Skulduggery, Ghastly and Madame Mist.

'Sorry we're late.' she said nonchalantly, pulling up a seat next to Mist around the table. She gestured for the others to do the same, and smirked to herself when she noticed that Willow already had- right next to Ravel. Valkyrie couldn't blame her- she herself had been a sixteen year old with a ridiculous crush once. What a shame that that crush had been a vampire, one who she probably wouldn't see again- not after last night.

'We're getting straight down to business.' Ghastly sighed. 'Discussing theories- _again_.'

Valkyrie let out a low growl. 'Why are we wasting time trading mere _theories_? We should just take action, investigate, find clues... like the good old days.'

'Valkyrie's right.' Skulduggery said. 'That sounds like much more fun.'

'Damn right.' Hades muttered.

Ravel sighed and rubbed his temples. He looked even more tired today. Valkyrie felt a wave of sympathy toward the man- he was clearly being worked overboard.

'I'm sorry,' he said, 'but we at least need to consider some rational decisions and theories before we go rushing head-first into any danger zones.'

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. She looked at her American friends- they were staring at the Elders and the Grand Mage with incredulous expressions.

'These playing cards,' Valkyrie said quickly to change the subject, 'why don't we talk more about them, if we're just going to sit around?'

'Good idea.' Ravel said, shooting her a grateful glance. She merely shrugged and gestured for him to continue. 'It's obviously some kind of signature, something that the killer leaves to make sure people know it's him.'

Ghastly snorted. 'Well, obviously.' he muttered with a slight smile.

Valkyrie smirked, then looked at Ravel. 'Okay, important question: on these cards... are they all the same number? Are they all, like, three of spades or something?'

The Grand Mage shook his head slowly. 'Nope. All different. The latest body was found with a three of diamonds, if that helps.'

'It doesn't.' Valkyrie sighed. She heard the wind blowing tirelessly against the walls of the Sanctuary and allowed herself to smile slightly- she had always liked the wind. There was just something about it.

'Well, I'm still not happy about sitting here talking about it.' Blade grumbled, and I noticed his arms were crossed stubbornly and he was pouting slightly. It brought a chuckle to my lips, and everyone looked at me in confusion.

'You look like a sulky teenager.' I grinned. 'None of us are exactly happy about it, Blade, so I guess we're going to have to deal with it.'

Willow laughed.

'I don't mind talking.' Hazel said quietly. 'In fact, I prefer it. Strategic planning and all that.'

'That's the spirit.' Ravel said encouragingly.

I snorted and said nothing.

'Back to the subject at hand, if you please.' Skulduggery said, impatience evident in his voice. 'And the killer. Any suggestions on who- or what- it might be?'

'Vaurien Scapegrace.' Valkyrie drawled wryly, causing several snorts of laughter to be heard around the table. She was pleased that Skulduggery had laughed instead of telling her to shut up.

'Now, now, let's be serious.' Ravel grinned. 'Valkyrie, I understand that you were attacked by a vampire last night- I hope you're feeling better, by the way. So, why don't we assume it's a vampire doing all the killing?'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'First of all, I'm much better, thank you for your concern. Second, it could just be a coincedence- there are vampires everywhere these days, in case you haven't realized it.'

'Of course we realized,' Ghastly said, 'but come on, Val- don't you think it's just a teensy tiny bit _too _suspicious that _you_ were attacked by a vampire just a few days after all the other murders?'

'Not really.'

'It is slightly suspicious.' Skulduggery mused. 'But what vampire- and I'm sure this point has been raised before- would bother to leave a playing card by the mangled bodies of their victims?'

'That _is _a good point.' Ghastly mumbled, sighing.

There was a moment of silence before Valkyrie stamped her foot impatiently. 'This really is getting us nowhere! If we're not going to take action-' she shot a look at Ravel, '-then we at least need to make sure we're getting things right! Skulduggery, you're right, no vampire would do that. Ravel and Ghastly, you're right, too, the attacks could be by a vampire- it would certainly fit. And I thought we were sticking with the suggestion that it might be a group of people, one of which might be a vampire? If we weren't, for some reason, planning on sticking with that, then we are now. It's the only plausible option we have. Now, I think I've done enough talking for all of us right there, and we've gathered that it's most likely sadistic group work, so why don't we go out and investigate the bodies some more? Sound good? Good. Let's go, then.'

Everyone stared t Valkyrie, who was left slightly out of breath after her speech. Hades was the first to speak.

'It's moment like these when I feel like I actually love you, Val.' he said, staring at her with something akin to awe in his eyes.

Valkyrie harrumphed. 'For god's sake, let's just go and examine some dead people.'

**A/N: A plus side? It's long. A down side? It's not my best chapter.  
>I hope you liked it anyway, and my deepest apologies for the time it has taken to update. I hope you'll forgive me for the unforgivable crime. ;)<br>Please review! I haven't been getting much lately- insert sad face- but thank you, anyway, for the ones I actually have got! They are amazing, just like you guys!  
>I wanted to add in a little insight on the Reflection's part, just so you understand why I stuck in that seemingly random part of the chapter. :)<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	10. In The Morgue

**Chapter 10. **

'Oh, god.' Willow muttered, turning her face away from the dead girl. 'I can't look at that.'

Valkyrie said nothing, but she secretly agreed. The girl's dead body was a pretty gruesome sight- one of her arms were torn off, and the other one only had three stubs for fingers. The girl's face was covered in claw marks and one of her eyes was missing, and there were bloodied marks on the neck- and that was all they could see. The rest of her body was covered with a crisp white sheet.

Valkyrie glanced at Willow and had to suppress a smile when she saw Ravel rubbing soothing circles on the younger girl's back.

'And what did you do with the playing card?' Blade asked seriously.

'It's in containment.' Ghastly answered.

Valkyrie stared at the dead body. Was it just her, or did the girl look familiar?

'Who is this?' she asked quietly.

'Her name was Alexandra- Alexandra Strange. A sorcerer... from America.' Skulduggery paused. 'Why? Did you know her?'

'I think I did.' Valkyrie murmured sadly. Alexandra Strange? Of course Valkyrie knew Alexandra. They had worked together on a case once, before Valkyrie had joined forces with Blade, Hades, Willow, Hazel and Maddox. Alexandra was a good agent, a good sorcerer and a good person.

No one said anything for a few moments.

'As sad as this is,' Ravel broke the silence, 'we did come here for a reason. Any big insights?'

'Is the rest of the body as bad as this?' Valkyrie asked.

Ravel hesitated. 'Worse.'

'Then yes. This probably _was_ a vampire's work.'

'Would that be because of the brutal, savage mauling?' Hades asked dryly.

'No,' Valkyrie said. 'It's the bite mark on her neck.'

'That's a bite mark?' Ghastly asked, a note of surprise in his voice. Ravel peered closely at the neck.

Valkyrie nodded. 'I know, it looks more like two jagged claw marks- but trust me, it's a bite mark.'

'Seen one before?' Skulduggery asked, an unidentifiable note in his voice.

She nodded solemnly. She glanced at the others in her group. 'We came across some vampires in a Californian warehouse once. Brutal- they were nasty work. They'd already killed and infected a few people.'

'So... it's a vampire, then.' Ravel sounded quite bemused.

'A vampire working with someone else? Yes, it looks like it.' Valkyrie sighed. 'It looks like the vampire had a little snack before finishing Alexandra off.'

She saw Willow shudder and shot her a sympathetic look- the girl was young, she'd only been introduced to magic when Valkyrie found her.

'Well, that was helpful.' Hazel said brightly. Then she hesitated when Maddox elbowed her. 'I wasn't being sarcastic this time, Mad. That _was_ helpful... wasn't it?'

Valkyrie smiled at her. 'It confirmed our suspicions, yes.'

'Shall we look at the other bodies?' Skulduggey asked.

Valkyrie spared at glance at Willow, who was looking at her with pleading eyes. Her head shook ever so slightly, and Valkyrie understood.

'Another time.' she said hastily. 'We have what we came here for now.'

Skulduggery nodded in understanding and they walked out of the Sanctuary Morgue. Skulduggery, Valkyrie noticed, had a phone pressed to his ear and was talking in low, exasperated tones. She had no idea who he could be talking to.

'Are you okay?' Valkyrie asked Willow.

Willow nodded. 'Yeah. I'm fine. There's been worse. It's just... horrible, you know? To look at. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that.'

'You don't.' Valkyrie said quietly. 'But it gets easier with time, like everything does.'

She noticed Willow's eyes on her. 'For a twenty year-old, you're awfully wise.'

Valkyrie smiled. 'Wise? Me? No way. I'm just... honest.'

Willow laughed. 'Wise, honest... same thing.' she paused. 'When you were my age... was it like this?'

'Like what?'

'Like... like everything's new and different and stuff.'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'No... but, you know, that's only because I've been doing this since I was twelve years old. You haven't.'

'It's close enough.'

'It's never easy. You know that, right?'

'Of course I know that. I just wish sometimes that it _was_.'

Valkyrie sighed wistfully. 'We all do, Willow. We all do.'

**HL**

Fletcher Renn was back in England when he got the call.

Skulduggery's voice had been in low tones, and Fletcher had been wondering why when the news was broken to him.

Valkyrie was back- she was back, and she wanted to see him.

Fletcher couldn't remember _ever_ feeling so happy in his life before. Finally, Valkyrie was home! He could finally see her and tell her how much he had missed her.

He didn't waste any time before he teleported to Roarhaven Sanctuary. He needed to find Skulduggery, so the skeleton detective could take him to Valkyrie...

Fletcher was relieved when he spotted a sorcerer he recognised. 'Excuse me,' he said, not caring that the sorcerer looked mildly surprised- probably at his hair. 'Have you seen Skulduggery Pleasant or Valkyrie Cain anywhere?'

The sorcerer's face broke out into a smile. 'Ah, yes- they're with Grand Mage Ravel, working on a case. I don't think you should interrupt them, but feel free to search around. Wonderful that the girl's back, don't you think? Ireland needed her...'

Fletcher mumbled a reply and took off in a quick jog, searching for Ravel's office. He found it quickly and gave it a loud, quick knock before barging in.

Much to his disappointment, the office was empty, save for a lone Cleaver at the door. A lone cleaver who was staring at him- Fletcher had, after all, just barged into the Grand Mage's office.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, backing away as the Cleaver advanced. 'I was just, uh, you know... looking for Erskine- I mean, the Grand Mage... I'll go now...'

'Cleaver.' a sharp voice interrupted, a voice that Fletcher excitedly recognised as Ravel's. 'Leave him.'

The Cleaver obeyed and stepped back obediently. Fletcher turned and flashed a small grin at Ravel before craning his neck to see behind the tall man. Ravel, a hint of nervousness in his face, stepped sideways to block Fletcher's view.

'Fletcher.' Ravel greeted. 'What are you doing here?'

'Isn't it obvious?' Fletcher asked in return. 'Is Valkyrie here?'

'I-' Ravel started, only to be cut off by a voice Fletcher never thought he'd ever hear again.

'I am.' Valkyrie Cain said, stepping out into view.

**A/N: A remarkably short chapter, I know. But I'll make up for it with a super long(er) chapter next time! :D Sound good?  
>Hope you liked the chapter- Fletcher and Valkyrie meet, ooh! Just out of interest, let me know how you think the meeting will go. I hope I end up making it to your standards. ;D<br>Thank you for the lovely reviews- hint, hint, they make me write faster. ;D  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	11. Hello, Fletcher

**Chapter 11.**

'Valkyrie!' Fletcher cried, breaking the silence that had followed her words. Without thinking about what he was doing- or how completely undignified he looked- he flung himself at her, wrapping his arms around her. He stayed like that for a few moments before realizing that she had remained stiff in his arms, and he slowly let go of her and stepped back. 'Valkyrie?'

She looked at him. 'Hello, Fletcher.'

Fletcher had always thought Valkyrie was the most beautiful girl in the world. Now, he knew it. Those chocolate eyes, that lovely dark hair, the delicate features... he stared at her. 'You're back.' he stated. Ever so eloquent.

'Thanks for noticing.' Valkyrie smiled at him.

Fletcher grinned goofily and went to hug her again, but she quickly held up a hand to stop him. 'Please don't hug me again.'

'Right.' he said awkwardly. 'No hugs.'

Usually, he would have been his normal cocky self. Smirking, making sharp combacks and flattering himself... now, he found he couldn't. It was shocking, really, to see someone you love after so long.

'Well, this is suitably awkward.' a handsome boy beside Valkyrie muttered. Fletcher looked at him.

'Who are you?'

'This his Hades.' Valkyrie said quickly, shooting the boy a look.

Fletcher raised an eyebrow, and it was then that he noticed the whole group of people Valkyrie was with. A pretty red-head, a frowning girl with dirty-blonde hair, the boy called Hades, a dark-haired boy who looked like Hades, and a boy with light brown hair. Fletcher frowned. He had never seen any of these people before. Who were they? Valkyrie looked awfully close with the dark-haired boy to the crooked smile...

Valkyrie must have noticed Fletcher's staring, because she quickly introduced the people, pointing to each as she introduced them. 'Fletcher, this is Hades, Blade, Willow, Hazel and Maddox. Guys, this is Fletcher.'

The girl called Hazel groaned. 'Dear God, Val, how many people who we have to introduce ourselves to today?'

Valkyrie chuckled. 'I'm not going to answer that. There'll always be one more than however many I say.'

Hazel rolled her brown eyes and looked away.

Fletcher stared at Valkyrie after noticing something for the first time. 'You sound like an American.'

Valkyrie sighed and glanced at Skulduggery. 'Is everyone going to call me up on that?' she asked him.

'Probably, yes.' Skulduggery replied, a smile in his voice.

Valkyrie looked back to Fletcher. 'This accent is what you get after living in California for four years.'

Fletcher gaped at the dark-haired beauty. 'But- you- I-' he spluttered. 'You were in California all along!'

'Yes, I was.' Valkyrie nodded

'But I looked there!'

Valkyrie smiled softly. 'I made sure that no one would find me- the American Sanctuary took me in, made sure no one from the Irish Sanctuary, apart from the Grand Mage, would find me. Thankfully, until now, dear old Erskine hasn't tried to look for me...' she frowned. 'At least _one _person got the message.'

'Why are you even back, then?' Fletcher asked. 'If you were so eager to stay anonymous.'

'My, that's quite a big word, Fletch. Have you been reading a book?'

'One or two.'

Valkyrie grinned. 'Clever boy.' her smile dropped and she returned to seriousness. 'I came back because we were sent here by the American Sanctuary to work on a case. Erskine asked for our help. The six of us, we're a team- we work together to, you know, solve stuff.'

'I looked everywhere for you, Val.' Fletcher said softly.

'I didn't want to be found. Didn't I make that clear?'

'But I-'

'No, Fletch. I'm sorry, but I had my own reasons for leaving, and I'm so sorry that I only left you a stupid little note with my reflection, but I _had_ to leave, okay?'

**HL**

Valkyrie felt like she was kicking a puppy.

That's what Fletcher looked like, with his wide blue eyes and hurt expression- an innocent puppy... who Valkyrie had just kicked. She hated being cold towards him, but, by god, if she didn't, he would just _not _shut up making her guilty.

'Fletcher, perhaps you should leave.' Ravel told him gently. 'You can come back later-'

'I don't want to leave.' Fletcher said stubbornly, sticking his chin out indignantly. 'I want to stay- I just found you, Val, and you can't make me leave that easily.'

Damn. Valkyrie sighed and shook her head. 'We're working on a case.'

'I'm staying.'

'You're ridiculously stubborn, do you know that?'

'But so are you.' Fletcher grinned at her. 'It's why we're perfect for each other.'

Valkyrie groaned. 'Shut up.'

She looked at the others with an apologetic expression. Blade and Hades were both looking at her with raised eyebrows, Hazel was chuckling quietly with Maddox, Willow was grinning with both curiosity and excitement at Valkyrie. Ravel was rolling his eyes, Ghastly looked pityingly towards Fletcher and Valkyrie couldn't read Skulduggery's expression- he was a skeleton, after all.

'You're seriously going to let Fletcher tag along?' Valkyrie asked the Grand Mage.

He shrugged. 'He can wait outside the door.'

Fletcher frowned. 'I'm not a dog.'

Valkyrie smirked at him. 'You've said that to me once before, and I say again; stay.'

The others chuckled as Fletcher protested, but they all ignored him and made him wait outside while they discussed their work.

'Aw, he's cute. Don't you feel bad about making him wait outside, Val?' Willow asked her.

Valkyrie shrugged. 'Not really.'

'But you heard him, Val- you were made for each other!' Hades teased.

Blade said nothing; just took his seat next to Valkyrie in silence. The Cleaver took his place by the door, looking alert and tense... as usual.

'Shut up, both of you.' Valkyrie ordered. Hades snorted but wisely shut up, and Willow said nothing more on the matter.

Ghastly looked at Ravel. 'We've gathered that vampires are killing the victims. Now can we start killing vampires?'

'We need to identify them first, Skulduggery.' Valkyrie reminded him. 'As fun as it would be, killing random vampires would surely not be a good thing.'

Skulduggery sighed. 'But how are we supposed to identify the vampires that are doing the killing? All we have to go on is a room of dead bodies with vampire bites and various other wounds.'

Valkyrie paused. 'Good point.' she grumbled. 'Where the hell do we go from here?'

Ravel rubbed his temples. 'We have no way of knowing who did it, do we?'

'No.' Valkyrie admitted. There was a chorus of groans from the others. 'But surely we can find out.' she said quickly, always on the optimistic side.

'Take off your rose-tinted glasses and look at the real world, Val.' Blade frowned. 'We're stuck.'

'We always find a way out- this time it's no different.' Valkyrie promised.

There was a knock on the door and Fletcher looked in sheepishly. 'Er, hi.' he said. 'Can I come in yet?'

'No,' Skulduggery said. 'Go away.'

'Please?' he said. 'A load of Cleavers have just walked past and glared at me, and one of them put his hand on his scythe... I don't think they like me.' Fletcher glanced at the Cleaver by the door and jumped slightly.

Valkyrie looked at the others and sighed. 'He can come in, can't he? We're pretty much done here anyway.'

'I suppose.' Ghastly frowned.

'Would anyone like a cup of tea?' Ravel asked, getting to his feet. 'Or coffee? Or... anything?'

'I'll have a cup of tea, please.' Valkyrie said. She noticed Hades grinning mischievously at her and rolled her eyes. 'And so will Hades. I'm not letting him steal mine again.'

'Why would he steal your tea?' Skulduggery asked, confusion in his voice.

'Because he's an absolute idiot.' Valkyrie said. 'And is fascinated by anything that's not American.'

'Stop making me sound like I have a single-digit IQ.' Hades grumbled.

Valkyrie laughed.

'Valkyrie, how was your plane journey? I forgot to ask.' Ravel smiled at her as he handed her and Hades a mug of tea. Valkyrie sipped hers- milk and three sugars. Just how she liked it. 'I understand you all had two prisoners on the plane with you.'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'They were just Scapegrace and Thrasher- they were no issue. And it was fine, thank you, despite having to look at Scapegrace's vomit.'

Willow frowned. 'Gross.'

'Speaking of those two zombies, were they taken to the prison all right?' Maddox asked.

'Yes, they were escorted by some of our best.'

'Not that they would have been needed.' Valkyrie grimaced. 'I'd forgotten how stupid they both are.'

'You were on a plane journey with Vaurien Scapegrace and his idiotic accomplice whose name I can't be bothered to remember?' Skulduggery asked.

'Yes, we were- unfortunately.' Valkyrie sighed. 'He gets plane sick. It's disgusting.'

Ghastly frowned. 'Zombies can vomit?'

'Apparently.' Hazel smiled.

**HL**

The Cleaver walked stiffly down the row of prison cells, checking that all the prisoners were in their rightful place. Prisoner one, check. Prisoner two, check. Prisoner three, check.

But it was then the Cleaver got to cell six, he noticed it was empty. That wasn't right- prisoner twelve, the zombie, was supposed to be in cell six. The Grand Mage needed to be alerted, and fast.

'Grand Mage.' the Cleaver said upon entering the Grand Mage's office. The nine other people in the room didn't matter. 'Prisoner twelve is not in his cell.'

'Right.' the Grand Mage said slowly. 'And... who is prisoner twelve, again?'

'Vaurien Scapegrace. He is a zombie.'

The Grand Mage leapt to action immediately. 'Where is he?' he demanded. The Cleaver noticed the sudden stir in the previously calm room.

'We do not know. He somehow escaped, though we do not know how he managed to get out of his cell.'

'What about the other zombie? The one in the cell next to his? He called himself Thrasher. Is he still there?'

'Yes, he remains in his cell.'

Valkyrie Cain frowned in her seat across from the Grand Mage's desk. 'How coincidental.' she muttered. 'So Scapegrace left without Thrasher. That means he got out on his own- how the hell did he do that?'

'He must have had help.' Skulduggery Pleasant said.

'But from who? Who would help him?' the Grand Mage asked.

'Thrasher must have seen who helped him.' Elder Bespoke said. 'Why don't we pay him a little visit?'

Valkyrie Cain groaned. 'He won't be able to help us.'

'We have to try.' the Grand Mage said. 'Come on. Looks like we're going to see Thrasher.'

**HL**

'Thrasher, are you going to help us or not?' Valkyrie demanded.

'I must remain loyal to my Master-'

'Your Master left you.' Valkyrie interrupted rudely. 'And he's not coming back for you.'

Thrasher's lower lip wobbled pathetically. 'There was a man- he came and took my master away.' he said miserably.

'What man?' Skulduggery asked.

'I don't know who he was.' Thrasher admitted.

'What did he look like, idiot?'

'He had a scar along his face, and a really big smile- it wasn't a nice smile, and eyes different colours- he came to my cell first, asking if I knew where Vaurien Scapegrace was...'

'And you told him?' Ravel asked incredulously.

Thrasher looked down, sniffling. Valkyrie almost, almost felt sorry for him- after all, he was devoted to Scapegrace.

But, then again, his attempts at breaking free of the Cleavers' hold were quite hilarious.

**A/N: I finally updated, yay!  
>Thank you for the amazing reviews- fancy giving me some more? ;D<br>It's very difficult to write in the point of view of a Cleaver? It's hard. I didn't know Cleavers could even, like, think for a good while. So yes. :')  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	12. Abduction

**Chapter 12. **

'We can't wait any longer.' Slash Furious growled, slamming his fist against the desk. It made Stephanie, Sanguine and Scapegrace jump. Tanith merely raised an eyebrow.

'We don't even know where she is, Furious.' Sanguine drawled lazily, sighing. 'But, dang, this torturin' business does sound mighty fun...'

'Darquesse was supposed to be released two years ago. The longer we wait, the less chance we have of bringing her out.' Slash continued, ignoring the others.

'You're only just realizing this now?' Tanith asked in mild surprise.

Slash glared at her. 'We have to find Cain.'

'Thank you, Captain Obvious.'

'Do not use sarcasm with me.' he scowled. 'We know, of course, that she is in Ireland.'

'Obviously.' Stephanie echoed.

A slow grin formed on Slash's face. 'And we know also that my talents will prove very useful in finding her.'

Stephanie grinned, but Tanith frowned. 'So, what?' she absently traced a pattern of black veins on her wrist. 'You just ranted on and on about us finding Valkyrie for fun? Was there a point to it?'

Slash snarled at her. 'Quiet, darling.'

Scapegrace, who had remained silent through the whole exchange, spoke up. 'She is in the Irish Sanctuary. You know that, don't you?'

There was a pause. A tense silence fell over the group. Slash blinked several times. Tanith raised both her eyebrows in surprise. Sanguine sat bolt upright. Stephanie looked vaguely interested.

Scapegrace shrank back and suddenly felt like he shouldn't have said anything.

'She... she...' Slash spluttered, lost for words for the first time possibly ever. '_What_?'

'Yes.' Scapegrace said nervously. 'You... you didn't know?'

When he spoke, Slash's voice was low with fury. 'No, I didn't. _Why was I not told of this?' _

'We didn't know, I swear.' Sanguine insisted, holding his hands in the air.

Tanith merely shrugged, a devilish smirk on her face. 'It's not like I had any idea.'

'I was _at_ the Irish Sanctuary! I went there to free this _idiot_, and I bloody _missed_ her? She was _there_!' Slash roared.

Another silence fell on the group. All of them, even Tanith, looked quite terrified.

If there was one thing they all now knew, it was that Slash Furious, when he wanted to be, was a very, very scary man.

**HL**

'How are my parents?' Valkyrie asked suddenly. She asked the question half-heartedly- she wasn't sure she even wanted to know. After all, how would one take the news that their parents were doing just fine with a carbon-clone of their daughter, whom they hadn't seen for four years?

Valkyrie had missed her parents, just as much as she'd missed Skulduggery and Fletcher and Tanith and Ghastly.

Skulduggery hesitated. 'They're grand.'

'And Alice?'

'She's grand, too. Everyone's fine, Valkyrie.' he assured her.

'Do you think they ever noticed I was gone?'

'I'm afraid they probably wouldn't have.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'I guess. It just... it's weird, you know?'

When Skulduggery spoke again, Valkyrie had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes at the sympathy in his voice. 'I understand how you feel.'

She pursed her lips. 'No, you don't. But whatever.'

They walked on in silence. After discovering that Scapegrace was missing from his cell, especially with help from some unknown man, Valkyrie had become worried. No, Scapegrace himself wasn't really much of a threat at all, but who knew about the man who had helped him get out? He must have been good, to escape the notice of all the Sanctuary staff and the Cleavers.

It was while Valkyrie was pondering this that she saw Ghastly running towards the pair. She frowned and glanced sideways at Skulduggery, who was staring at Ghastly with his skull tilted to the side.

Ghastly reached them, panting. 'There you are!' he gasped. 'I've been looking round the whole Sanctuary for you.'

'We decided to take a walk.' Skulduggery said. 'What's wrong?'

Ghastly drew in a sharp breath and looked at them both, his eyes serious and him mouth set in a grim line. 'It's Tanith.' he replied solemnly. 'She was spotted near Haggard.'

Valkyrie felt her eyes widen. '_What_?'

Skulduggery, for his part, kept calm. 'Who saw her?'

'Lucius Peever. He saw her- he claimed it was definitely her, running up buildings and wearing the same brown leather she always wears.'

'Is she still possessed by the Remnant?' Valkyrie asked, then winced. 'Okay, stupid question.'

'It seems like it, yes.' Ghastly nodded gravely.

'So, do we go and find her?' Valkyrie asked, inwardly cursing herself for sounding so hopeful. But was it really so wrong for her to want her best friend, her big sister back?

'We've sent a squad of Cleavers there.' Ghastly looked at her. 'Valkyrie, they will protect your parents if any harm is intended towards them...'

'The last time you sent Cleavers to protect my parents, they ended up dead in a van while Tanith was inside having tea with my parents.' Valkyrie retorted. 'I somehow don't think they'll do any better this time.'

'It's the best we can do.' Ghastly said firmly. 'I'm sorry.'

Ghastly, in Valkyrie's opinion, looked like hell. And not just because of his scars. There were dark bags under his eyes that Valkyrie didn't know how she'd failed to notice before. The corners of his mouth didn't once curve upwards. His eyes were filled with stress and worry. Valkyrie felt a wave of pity for him. Tanith had been, after all, his sort-of girlfriend. The woman he had loved.

'Do you think she'll actually hurt anyone?' Valkyrie questioned, biting her lip.

'She's not Tanith any more, Valkyrie.' Skulduggery said. 'We have no idea _what_ she might do.'

'Then we need to stop her.'

'Yes, we do.' Skulduggery murmured.

**HL**

It was a few hours later that Valkyrie decided to go on another walk. Of course, this caused a lot of arguments. Everyone told her she shouldn't risk it again. She simply rolled her eyes and walked out. The day had been a surprisingly busy one, and she needed fresh air. It wasn't anywhere near dusk, so she would be safe from any vampires. She could handle most things on her own, anyway. She didn't need any help.

Valkyrie tilted her head up to look at the grey sky, and sighed when a few fat drops of rain fell on her face. Great. It was starting to rain. It was times like this when she wished she had asked for a hood to be sewn into her coat.

She subtly snapped her palm open and created a bubble of air around herself, causing the raindrops to simply slide down the air around her instead of falling on her head.

_Cancel the order on the hood, _she thought smugly to herself.

'Interesting trick you have there. Fancy teaching it to me?' a gravelly voice said from behind Valkyrie. She frowned and whirled around, wondering briefly if someone had followed her out of the Sanctuary, and her eyes widened when she saw a man standing there.

He was tall and stocky. His arms and legs seemed muscled- it looked like he could take someone on in a bar fight and win. His head was shaved, and their was a long pink scar running down his face. Both of his eyes were different colours- one green, one... yellow. It was an ugly, dirty yellow. Valkyrie herself hated the colour. The man wore a nasty grin.

All in all, Valkyrie deduced, a seriously unattractive man who clearly meant no good.

'And you are...?' she questioned, cocking her head to one side, letting a strand of dark hair fall in front of her eye.

'Your worst nightmare.' he replied menacingly.

She rolled her eyes. 'Oh, my god. Could that statement be any more clichéd?' she asked, giggling when the man's smile dropped and he threw a sudden punch at Valkyrie.

She caught his wrist in an iron grasp and glared at him. 'Your name would be a preferable answer, please.' she said with a patience she didn't think she owned.

His smile returned, much to Valkyrie's displeasure. 'You really are as good as they say.' he murmured. 'But, I think, you could be _much_ better.'

With that, he pulled his wrist back. This surprised Valkyrie, made her stumble backwards. The man threw another punch with caught her in the jaw, and she could swear that she saw stars.

She let out a low growl and lashed out her leg, catching the man in the stomach with a fierce kick. He grunted and grabbed her ankle, twisting it, making Valkyrie cry out in pain. The distraction had caused her bubble of air to dissipate, and rain was now falling freely onto her hair. Except now, she couldn't care less. She clicked her fingers and summoned a flame, throwing it at the man. It caught his shoulder and singed his t-shirt. He let out an angry sound and slapped a hand at his shoulder, putting out the flame, and glared at Valkyrie.

'You really should stop trying to resist, Cain.'

'How do you know who I am?' she demanded angrily, fumbling in her pocket for her ring while trying not to put too much weight on her twisted ankle. While simultaneously trying to block punches and kicks from her attacker.

Needless to say, it wasn't working out too well.

Valkyrie finally found her ring and quickly slipped it onto her finger, relishing in the sudden feeling of power. She wasted no time in summoning the shadows and using them to knock the man backwards. He skidded away, and Valkyrie was smug to see the look of surprise on his face.

'Answer me!' she ordered, moving- well, limping- to stand over him. Her shadows held him in place on the ground.

He leered at her. 'All in good time... Darquesse.'

Valkyrie let out a gasp. '_How the hell do you know that_?' she demanded. Her hair stuck to her scalp. She was wet and freezing, and her ankle hurt. More than anything, she just wanted to go home- to her apartment in California with Blade and Hades and Willow and Hazel and Maddox. Or to her parents' home in Haggard, curled up in her bed and watching the rain patter against her windows. It was a wish that came to her mind too many times to count, whenever she was in a situation like this.

But however many times she wished for it, it never came true.

The man gave her a wide smile. He has a split lip that stretched even farther with his smile. It almost made Valkyrie shudder, and she grimaced at the man.

'I know more than you think I do, princess.' he said.

She frowned and tilted her head to the side, opening her mouth to retort, but her reply was cut short by the sudden rumble in the ground. Cracks started to form, and Valkyrie watched with an open mouth and a growing sense of dread.

To her dismay, the ground suddenly parted and a man shot up from it. The man had wavy blond hair and was wearing large sunglasses that covered his eyes.

Sanguine.

Valkyrie raised her fist and threw a punch that caught Sanguine in the eye. But before she had time to be proud of herself for it, her waist was being gripped, and she was being pulled toward Sanguine. She struggled in his grasp, but it was firm, and she was strangely weak. Sanguine gripped the man's arm, too, and before Valkyrie could blink, she was being pulled through the ground and there was dirt flying in her face.

And all the while, she could only think one thing; _I really need to stop going on these walks. _

**A/N: Once again, a pretty short chapter. I'm very sorry about that! :) But I updated, which is a yay.  
>I'm very sorry about having Valkyrie kidnapped- don't worry, it's a necessary point in the story. Hope you liked the chapter!<br>Please remember to review, and thank you for the ones I have already received! They make me update faster, I promise.  
>And since it's half-term this week, you may get another update before it's due! Awesome, right? Yep. Awesome.<br>You all are amazing, so just keep doing what you're doing- because, trust me, it's working.  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	13. Torture

**Chapter 13. **

'We'll give you one last chance to bring Darquesse out before we get rough.' the man whispered in Valkyrie's ear.

Valkyrie just snarled at him. 'Go to hell.'

His smirk dropped and he glared at her. 'Fine. We warned you. We even tried asking nicely-'

Valkyrie interrupted him with a snort. 'That was nicely? Damn, I sure as hell don't want to see what you call mean.'

The man didn't reply. He just took the knife he was fiddling with and stabbed it right into her leg.

Valkyrie screamed, and then pressed her face to her shirt to muffle it. She didn't want this man to see her weakness. The pain shot through her already-injured leg in all directions, and she found herself wishing that they _hadn't _bound her magic.

'Okay,' she panted. 'Now _that_ was mean.'

'No more Mr Nice Guy, sweetheart.'

'That is such an overused saying.' Valkyrie mustered up the courage to roll her eyes. 'And _don't_ call me sweetheart.'

The man chuckled roughly and said nothing. He got to his feet and left her room-or should she really call it a room? It was more of a cage.

It certainly _looked_ like a cage, and it felt no different. Bars surrounded her, and her wrists were shackled to two of them. The floor was cold and made of stone, and it was ever so uncomfortable.

But, on the bright side, at least she was still wearing her fighting outfit.

Even though the thighs of the pants were ripped with a knife-shaped hole in the calf, and there was a tear in the abdominal area of her shirt.

And she was covered in blood. Can't forget that.

Valkyrie sighed, resting her head against the cold iron bars.

Here she was, sat in a cage, bleeding and in horrible pain... all because she was stupid enough to ignore her friends' warnings and go for a walk around Roarhaven.

Again.

She silently prayed that Skulduggery and the others would find her before something awful. No, she didn't mean before she got tortured more. She knew what these people who kidnapped her wanted- they wanted Darquesse.

As long as she was in her right mind, that sure as hell wasn't going to happen.

She closed her eyes and wished for rest. She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that before her breathing finally slowed and the pain in her leg dulled slightly. She wasn't asleep, but she was calm, and that was enough for her.

Some time later, she heard the sounds of a latch being undone and quiet footsteps entering her cage. Valkyrie's eyes flew open and she peered at the figure in front of her. Tousled blonde hair, tight brown leather, cold black-lipped smile.

Valkyrie knew she was looking at Tanith Low.

'Tanith.' she greeted weakly. 'I thought you were in Haggard?'

Tanith grinned at her. 'Thought I should come back to visit my favourite sister. Hey, Val.'

Valkyrie just looked at the woman she had once admired, had thought of as a role model.

'Why am I here?'

'You know why.'

'It won't hurt to check.'

Tanith grinned. 'You're just as curious as ever, aren't you?'

'Of course I am.' Valkyrie retorted.

'Val, you know we want Darquesse. You know she's way overdue to us.'

'She's not overdue. She was never meant to come out in the first place.'

'You're speaking of Darquesse as a separate entity again.'

'So are you.'

Tanith shook her head, amused. 'Why _didn't _our saviour appear?'

Valkyrie shrugged, frowning. 'How should I know? The most likely scenario is that I left, she didn't feel the need, and the world was all la-di-da like it's meant to be. Why would you want to change that?'

'Because I want a free world, where I don't have to hide in a human skin. Think about it, Val. If you and Darquesse let us have our free world, then we won't have to inhabit any more of your friends. We can give you Tanith back- or I could stay in her, if you want. Me, her and you, ruling the world together. Doesn't that sound nice?'

Valkyrie paused, pretending to consider it. 'Nope.' she said slowly. 'That actually sounds pretty horrible. I think your views are getting a little skewered.'

Tanith's smile dropped. 'I'm warning you, Val. I was sent here to torture you, you know that? And instead I'm being nice. We're having a conversation. But, if you want it, I have no problem with getting out a few tools and getting a head start on the torture.'

'Torture won't bring Darquesse out.'

'You don't know that.'

'I don't have to.' Valkyrie retorted.

Tanith sighed. 'I guess you don't want to converse after all. Torture it is.'

She pulled her long, gleaming sword from her belt, touching the tip of it gently. She looked at me with a sadistic smile.

'You know, now that you think about it, that conversation was very fun. Why don't we carry on with that?' Valkyrie tried.

Tanith shook her head. 'You made up your mind, Val.'

The tip of the blade ran along Valkyrie's forearm. It made her cry out. She tried to yank her arm back, but the shackles and chains prevented that from happening. All it did was hurt her wrist- not that that dull excuse for pain was anything compared to the excuciating feeling of the blade moving from her arm to Valkyrie's stomach.

Tanith was speaking. '… Don't worry, though, we'll get it all patched up soon enough, so we can do it again. We have a plan, you see- torture you to the point of death.' she wagged her finger at Valkyrie. 'Don't think we don't know that Darquesse will only come out if your life is threatened.'

'Please don't do this.' Valkyrie breathed, staring at the line of blood tricking down her arm.

'Your magic clothes aren't very good, are they?' Tanith noted critically as the blade sliced across Valkyrie's stomach, making her body twist in pain. 'My darling Ghastly _definitely_ didn't make these.'

'Yeah, it was hard to access him from California, as you can imagine.' Valkyrie grunted, breathing hard.

It continued like that for a while. After about five minutes- or maybe more, Valkyrie sure wasn't counting- Valkyrie was finding it hard to speak. No matter how much pain you were put through in the past, you would never be prepared for torture. Never.

She was learning that the hard way.

****HL** **

'She should be back by now.' Blade worried, running a hand through his dark hair and pacing around his room.

'Calm down, kiddo, she'll be back any second...' but even Hades sounded doubtful.

'If I find out that she's gotten herself into trouble _again_-' Willow started, but Maddox quickly silenced her with a look.

To say that Blade was worried would be an understatement.

If her last walk was anything to go by, they should have done more to stop her. They should have insisted that she was accompanied...

'Maybe we should go looking for her.' Hazel suggested, nibbling at her lower lip. Maddox rubbed her back comfortingly.

'I say that's a good idea.' Willow said.

'So do I.' Blade said, reaching inside his jacket and withdrawing his gleaming silver throwing knives.

'Then let's go.' Hazel smiled a small smile and got to her feet.

'Wait, wait, wait.' Hades said, frowning. 'What if she gets back and we're all gone?'

'She's been gone for an hour now, Hades.' Blade pointed out, his green eyes determined.

'It... could just be a really long walk.'

'I doubt it'd take an hour to walk around the whole of Roarhaven, Hades, this place is small.' Maddox pointed out.

'Give her time.' Hades murmured.

'Why are you so insistent that she'll come back?' Blade asked.

'Because I have faith in her.' Hades said quietly, all his usual arrogance and cockiness somehow gone. 'She's pretty much our _leader_. We shouldn't be so quick to protect her.'

'And what if she sometimes _needs _protecting, huh?' Blade questioned. 'What about then?'

Hades just glared at his brother. 'Listen, little brother, she's a grown up. She can get out of her own messes.'

'Little brother? Seriously? We're doing that?'

'We're not doing anything.'

'We're going after Valkyrie, okay?' Maddox sounded exasperated.

'Fine.' Hades muttered. 'But if she gets angry at us for interfering, I had nothing to do with it.'

'But I'm sure that if she's grateful for us _saving her life_, you'll be the one who came up with it.'

'That won't happen.' Hades insisted.

No one said anything, and they all looked pointedly at Hades.

'_Again_. That won't happen _again_.' he rolled his eyes. 'Anyway, I thought you guys were the ones insisting on going?'

'We are.' Blade said, pulling on his favourite pair of black fingerless gloves. The same pair of gloves that Valkyrie sometimes wore when she was in a laughing mood. They even smelled faintly of her; the scent of cinnamon and vanilla reached Blade's nostrils, and he found himself inhaling it.

They would get to Valkyrie before anything happened, no matter what it took.

'Should we get Skulduggery and the others, too?' Willow asked.

'Won't need them.' Blade heard Hades mutter under his breath, but he decided to ignore his brother for the night. It's not like he'd have anything useful to say anyway.

'Nah.' Maddox said, waving his hand dismissively. 'We'll manage. We have for the past four years.'

****HL** **

'Damn it.' Valkyrie growled, furrowing her brow with determination.

Tanith was gone. The man was gone. She hadn't received any other unwelcome visitors in the past hour, but she wasn't grateful. She was too annoyed to be grateful.

She was in pain. She was hungry and thirsty. She didn't know where she was. And she was _bored_.

She had tried countless times to pick the lock. She'd even tried to use her teeth. But it wasn't working, and Valkyrie was getting desperate.

She looked wildly around her, looking for some form of escape. Obviously, she could use her hands- she was shackled. And she couldn't use her magic, either, since the shackled bound her powers.

She glanced at the area around her feet. There were a few small stones and.. was that a pin?

It was. Seriously. There was a pin in Valkyrie's cage.

It was almost as if they _wanted _her to escape.

But surely it hadn't been there before. She'd _looked_.. before Tanith came. She'd looked before Tanith came, and there was nothing there.

Had Tanith dropped the pin? And if she did, was it on purpose?

Valkyrie didn't have time to think about it. She needed to focus on using her feet to pick up the pin and toss it back, somehow catch in her mouth, and use it to pick the lock on her shackles.

It was unlikely to happen, but it was worth a shot. It was Valkyrie's best bet, probably her only way of getting out.

Ignoring the awful pain it caused her, he stretched her slashed-up legs out and moved her feet, trying to pick the small pin up. It was difficult with her bulky black boots, but not impossible. She tried five times before she managed to pick up the small pin.

Now was the difficult part. She would need to toss it back, and she couldn't let it land anywhere that wasn't within her leg's reach. Preferably, the pin would land between her teeth and she'd use it as a lock pick.

Ha. Like she'd be lucky enough for that to happen.

Valkyrie closed her eyes for a moment. One chance. She sprang her feet back and let go of the grip she had, craning her neck to catch it when it flew towards her. It missed her mouth and landed, still quite luckily, on her shoulder. It was easy to catch it between her teeth when it nearly slipped off, and there it was. Her way out of the shackles.

It had almost been to easy.

Valkyrie jammed the pin into the small lock on her shackles and suppressed a grimace as she had to twist her face to make it move. She knew how this worked; she'd picked plenty of locks in her lifetime, even before she found out she was magic.

Eventually, after a few tries, she heard the tell-tale _click_ of the shackles being unlocked.

Finally.

She spat the pin out and grinned, slipping her hands out of the unlocked shackles. She barely gave herself the chance to rub her wrists before she was slowly getting to her feet, wincing at the pain that shot through her when she felt her whole body weight fall onto her legs. But she had to get out of her, no matter how painful it was.

_Pah, _Valkyrie thought to herself, _'we'll heal up your wounds' my ass. _

She got to the bar of the cage where the latch was, and found it easy enough to undo the latch. Really, the people here weren't particularly good with security.

She slipped out of her cage and ran as fast as she could down the hallway, being careful to dodge out of the way when she thought someone was coming. She still didn't know where she was, but frankly, she didn't care. She just needed to get out.

When Valkyrie finally found the exit- strangely enough, _not _guarded- she didn't waste time limping out. She tilted her head up to appreciate the strong blowing against her face, whipping her hair about.

However, her little moment was short-lived, as she heard heavy footsteps rushing out from behind her. She turned round with narrowed eyes and gasped when she saw the man who had captured her, running for her.

'Thought you could get away that easily?' the man yelled.

Valkyrie ran. She ran and ran and ran, until she emerged from the alleyway she had crossed through and reached a busy Dublin street.

She was in Haggard. She could tell, because she saw the sweet shop she and her friends used to visit after school when she was younger.

When she actually had non-magical friends.

She risked a glance behind her and was grateful to see that she wasn't, as far as she could see, being followed any more. She slowed to a stop and let out a relieved breath, ignoring the concerned glances she gained regarding her tattered appearance. She looked forward again and froze in her position when she saw, standing still amongst the busy crowds, the man. He was watching her, his expression strangely amused. He shot her a playful wink and then disappeared into the crowd.

Valkyrie stood still, staring after him.

'Dearie, are you okay? Did something happen to you?' an elderly woman asked from behind her.

'Fine. I'm fine.' Valkyrie said absently. 'Thanks.'

The elderly woman gave her a doubtful look before hobbling away. After a few seconds of glancing cautiously around her, Valkyrie started to walk, not quite sure where she should be going. She was in Haggard; where could she go?

Actually, that was a lie. She knew what she _should_ do. She should find a payphone- her phone had been so rudely taken away from her- and call her friends. Skulduggery or Blade or Willow or... someone. She would get them to come pick her up and meet her somewhere, then they'd take her to the Sanctuary and she'd get all healed up.

But then she would feel like something was missing, and quite rightfully, too.

If she wanted to torture herself even more, she could go down her old street and visit her parent's house. She could look in and see how they were doing; even sneak in through the window like she always used to, find a decent change of clothes, and say hi to her parents.

It would be stupid. It would be reckless. It would be downright cruel.

But Valkyrie couldn't help it. She _had_ to.

She made her decision. After fishing around in her pockets and finding no money that she could use to get a payphone anyway, her mind was made up, and she began walking in the direction of her parents' old house.

_Her_ old house.

****HL** **

'Find her?' Willow asked when she, Blade and Hades met up with Hazel and Maddox outside the Sanctuary like they'd agreed to.

Blade shook his head sadly. 'Nope. You?'

Willow frowned, feeling as crestfallen as she looked. 'No. She either went outside of town, or...' she didn't say what else she thought might have happened. She didn't need to. The unfinished sentence hung heavy in the air, making the tension thick.

'Well, we need to find her.' Blade said, his voice low and dangerous.

'Where do we start?' Hades asked, his eyes suddenly determined.

Hazel raised a critical eyebrow at him. 'You've had a change of heart.' she noted.

He waved his hand. 'Screw what Valkyrie thinks of us. When we need to help her, we help her, and it looks like our Val needs help.'

Willow grinned at him. 'That's the spirit.'

'We don't have any idea where she could be or who she could be with.' Maddox said. 'Where do we go from there?'

Blade groaned. 'We're kind of stuck on that part.'

'I say we bring in Skulduggery and Erskine.' Willow said, looking around at the others.

'Will,' Hazel started. 'Seriously, this isn't the time to flirt with the Grand Mage, okay? You-'

'I know.' Willow said, offended. 'I wasn't _going_ to flirt with him, for your information. We need help, he can probably offer it. What's wrong with that?'

'Nothing's wrong with it.' Maddox beamed at Willow. 'It was a good suggestion.'

'Good.' Willow said. 'I'll go fetch them, shall I?'

'Nope.' Hades grinned. 'I'll do it. You just sit back and relax.'

Willow huffed and rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. 'Fine.'

Hades went in to fetch Skulduggery and Erskine, and the other four stood outside the Sanctuary in silence.

Blade remained intense and serious as he had been for the whole night. He was determined to find Valkyrie, it seemed, even more so than the rest of them. Willow understood. Valkyrie and Blade were best friends; it was to the point that Willow often wondered if maybe the pair meant something more to each other. But they always insisted they didn't, and that was fine enough for Willow. Although she still had doubts.

She always would have her doubts.

Finally, Hades returned with the skeleton detective and Ireland's Grand Mage.

'We need to get started.' Skulduggery said immediately, fixing his hat on his head. Skull. Whatever.

'We need to formulate a plan first.' Erskine corrected. '_Then_ we go out and get her.'

'What if she's in danger?' Skulduggery asked, turning to look at Erskine. His voice held the kind of grim determination a father would have when speaking about a daughter who was in danger.

'We'll find her, mate.' Erskine said lowly. 'Don't worry. She'll be fine.'

'I knew we should have stopped her.' Skulduggery continued, ignoring Erskine's attempts to comfort him. 'And I had that feeling again- I should have listened to my feeling...' he cursed. 'She's in trouble _again_!'

Willow winced at his tone.

'Skulduggery, _we'll find her.'_ Erskine said, putting both his hands on the skeleton's shoulders. 'Calm the hell down.'

Skulduggery snorted. 'That's a comfort.' he said, but then just crossed his arms and complied.

It was then that Blade's cell phone started ringing. He sighed and fished it out of his pocket, glancing lazily at the caller ID.

'It's an unknown number.' he said uncertainly.

'We're in the middle of something here.' Hades reminded him, slapping him over the head.

Blade scowled at his brother. 'It might be important. Give me a minute.' he said, before flipping open the phone and pressing it to his ear. 'Hello?'

The person on the other end spoke, and Blade's eyes widened. '_Valkyrie_? Oh, thank god you're all right!'

Willow gasped and felt relief flood through her. She was sure the others were feeling the same tidal wave of relief. The tension in the air suddenly just evaporated, and breaths were let out of people's lungs.

Then Blade frowned. 'What do you mean, you're not all right?'

**A/N: Ba dum dum dum duuuuum.  
>I just watched Paranormal Activity 2, like, a year after its release date. It scared me, and now I'm dreading watching PA3. Seriously, why do I do this to myself? -.-<br>So, yes, this story has been my saviour. It actually managed to guide me to sleep, and it was a doddle to write. I found that every time I made to stop the chapter (Quite a few times, actually. See if you can spot the parts where I might have ended it.) I couldn't, until my eyes just went droopy and I felt like my brain was made out of steel.  
>So, yes. Hope you liked the lovely long chapter. Was it okay? Did you find it at all realistic? Gee, I hope so.<br>Thank you for the amazing review, and please, give me some more! They really make my day, and they encourage me to write longer/faster chapters. Really. They do. So oui, please review.  
>Love you all! :D<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	14. Mr and Mrs Edgely

**Chapter 14. **

It was there.

Right in front of Valkyrie was her parents' house- her _home_.

She was home.

It was easy to manipulate the air and lift herself up the side of the house and through the window the way she always did. It felt familiar and strangely nice.

After all, she could hardly go waltzing through the front door looking the way she did. She didn't need to look in a mirror to know that her hair was tattered and covered in dried blood, that her face was filled with cuts and bruises and blood, and that her clothes were torn. She was also badly wounded- _very_ badly wounded. She suspected that one of the mortals outside had probably called the police about the 'young woman running around Haggard looking bruised and beaten beyond belief'. No matter, though. She'd figure a way out of that one, like she always did.

The first thing Valkyrie did when she got into her room was strip off her clothes and head to the bathroom to shower. As far as she knew, she still had some of Kenspeckle's old healing rocks stored up in the bathroom cabinet.

She was correct in thinking this and she gathered a few in her arms before she stepped into the shower and turned the water on. The hot water felt so good against her skin that she let out a small moan of appreciation. She stood there in the warmth for a few minutes before actually starting to wash herself. She rubbed the healing stones against all her cuts and bruises. She used one of the stronger ones on the bigger cuts and the stab wound in her leg. All in all, it was effective, but she would still need to get checked out in the Sanctuary.

By Doctor Nye. Ew.

Valkyrie rubbed shampoo in her hair and rinsed it, then used her favourite brand of soap to wash the rest of her body. There. She was clean, and the smaller damages to her skin were healed. She would just cover the bigger ones up.

But not with her fighting clothes. They were, to her disappointment, now completely ruined. She definitely needed to get Ghastly to take time out of his busy schedule to make her some new ones.

After a while, she reluctantly turned off the hot water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a fluffy green towel around herself and going back to her room to change.

Throwing open her wardrobe doors, Valkyrie was relieved to see that the reflection had bought new clothes for herself. She picked out a long-sleeved, tight fitting top and a pair of light blue jeans with her boots, the only remaining magical garments she had left.

She busied herself with running a brush through her hair while she debated what to do next. She had come all this way... she _had_ to go downstairs to see her parents now. She couldn't just _not_, could she? It was a natural, selfish desire to have... of course she would succumb.

But first, she would call her friends. Tell her that she was all right and that they didn't need to worry.

But, since her cell phone was gone, she'd need to use a house phone. It was downstairs.

Oh. Looks like she was going to have to go say hi to her parents first after all.

Valkyrie couldn't exactly say she was disappointed.

Giving her hair one last run-through with the brush, Valkyrie hopped down the steps with false cheerfulness. She was still hurting, but at least she wasn't in the agony she had been in before.

'Hi, mum, dad.' she greeted as casually as she could, giving her parents a little wave as she passed them in the living room. Inside, she was screaming with joy at seeing them and trying to hold back the tears that, after the day she'd had, so desperately wanted to spill. She was also trying her best to put on her old Irish accent, and she thought she was actually doing a very good job, considering that she'd spent the past three and a half years speaking American.

'Hi, Steph.' her mum greeted. 'We didn't hear you come in. Are you back from Hannah's house so early?'

Valkyrie blinked, then smiled slowly. Seriously? Her reflection had made friends with Hannah Foley, of all people? It was in for it now. Valkyrie _hated_ Hannah Foley.

'Yeah. You know me- quiet as a ninja and all that.' she gave a weak grin. 'I'm just going to phone someone. Won't be a minute.'

'Okay. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.'

Valkyrie swallowed the lump in her throat. 'Okay. Great.'

She jogged up the stairs, dialling Blade's number into the phone.

_Come on, Blade, pick up pick up pick up... _

She was grateful when he answered on the third ring.

'Hello?' he sounded stressed.

'Blade, it's Valkyrie.'

The relief that entered his voice when he spoke next made Valkyrie smile. '_Valkyrie_! Oh, thank god you're all right!'

Her smile quickly dropped and she sighed. 'Actually, Blade, I'm not all right.'

She could hear the frown in his voice. 'What do you mean, you're not all right?'

She went on to explain her little kidnapping experience, conveniently leaving out the parts about Darquesse and all that jazz. If she could credit Blade for one thing, it was his listening skills. And his knife skills.

Well, Valkyrie could credit Blade for a lot of things, actually.

'We need to find this bastard.' Blade said quietly. His voice was low and filled with anger; Valkyrie knew that tone. It meant he was furious.

When he was in this mood, Blade Koldo was deadly.

'Yeah, well, first you need to find me. I'm in freaking _pain _here,' Valkyrie's attempt to lighten the mood was poor, but apparently appreciated. Blade let out a low chuckle.

'Where are you? Whose phone are you speaking from?'

She sighed. 'I'm speaking from my home phone- or, should I say, my parents' home phone. I'm at their house, Blade.'

'Valkyrie...' his tone had turned from angry to disapproving in a matter of seconds. Damn, this boy was almost bipolar.

'I'm sorry, okay?' Valkyrie sighed. 'I couldn't resist. And anyway, I needed to go somewhere, and I had no money or phone. What did you expect me to do?'

'Whatever. We'll send Skulduggery to pick you up.'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'Actually,' she said. 'I'd rather you didn't just yet.'

'Why?'

'Well, we're about to have dinner...'

'_Valkyrie._'

'I'm hungry!' Valkyrie said defensively. 'And I can't just disappear! Come for me in about an hour, okay?'

'An hour, Val? Seriously? No, you need to get those wounds checked out.'

'Fine. I'll call you when I've eaten and thought up a decent excuse to leave, and then you can come pick me up. Happy?'

'Elated.' there was a pause before Blade said. 'Valkyrie... don't get too attached to your parents again, okay?'

'They're my parents, Blade.' Valkyrie whispered. 'I'm already attached.'

****HL****

Blade sighed when Valkyrie hung up. Honestly, sometimes he worried about that girl.

'She's been hurt.' he said to the others, who were looking at him expectantly. 'But she _says_ that she's fine, and she's in a safe place.'

'Let me guess,' Skulduggery said quietly. 'She went to her parents' house.'

'She did.' Blade admitted.

'And she told you to let her stay for a while.'

'She did.'

'That girl...' Skulduggery sighed frustrately.

'She said she'll call when she wants you to come and pick her up.'

'Did you address her by her proper title: Her Majesty?' Hades asked drily, rolling his eyes.

'I'm glad she's okay.' Willow said warmly.

Hazel raised an eyebrow at the younger girl. 'Will,' she said slowly, emphasising each word, 'she's been _hurt. _No matter what she's saying, she's not all right.'

Willow looked down. 'Sorry.' she whispered.

Erskine grinned at her. 'It's fine. She's in a place where she feels comfortable, and we should trust her when she asks us to.'

'She didn't ask us to.' Blade pointed out, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

'And we don't anyway.' Hades added cheekily, laughing when Blade punched him in the arm.

'And now we go back and await her call?' Skulduggery asked, tilting his hat back on his skull.

Maddox nodded seriously. 'Yep. You don't question Val when she asks you to do something.'

'Why?' Erskine asked with a frown.

'Trust me.' Willow shuddered mockingly. 'You don't want to know.'

The young adults among the group laughed. Skulduggery and Erskine just ignored them.

'We're going back inside. Tell us when she calls.' Skulduggery said, turning on his heel and stalking inside.

'Will he be okay?' Willow asked, nibbling at her lower lip.

'He'll be fine.' Erskine said, waving his hand dismissively. 'He's just angry that he wasn't able to help her. He used to do this a lot- he'll cool down in time, when he sees she's okay.'

'But what if she's _not _okay?' Hazel stressed, her brown eyes meeting Blade's green ones. 'She even said so herself, if your reply was anything to go by.'

Blade sighed. 'She was kidnapped while she was on her walk, okay? Kidnapped and tortured. She didn't say why. She just... was.'

Willow gasped. 'Oh, that's _horrible_.' she breathed.

Erskine put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, causing her to blush.

'Then she's definitely _not_ okay!' Hades said, eyes wide. Blade wasn't sure whether it was with anger or horror.

Blade, too, was horrified by what happened to Valkyrie, but he knew that if anyone could get through it, it was their Valkyrie. She had always been the toughest member of their group. Not even any of the boys could match her in any department; not speed, not strength, not toughness, and certainly not bravery. Valkyrie was the master at those traits.

'This is Valkyrie we're talking about.' Blade pointed out quietly. 'She'll be fine. She always is.'

Everyone looked doubtful, but no one disagreed. Or, at least, not out loud.

****HL** **

Dinner, as it turns out, was Valkyrie's dad's fabulous burned pasta.

'Honestly, dad, how do you _burn _pasta?' Valkyrie questioned disbelievingly.

'Hey.' her dad said, then he frowned. 'Actually, I'm not too sure...'

'It's fine, Des.' her mum soothed.

'Yeah, Stephanie, it's _fine_.' her dad stuck his tongue out childishly and Valkyrie laughed. 'Anyway, you can't complain now. How old are you, twenty? Twenty years old and you're living with your parents, not even cooking for them. When are you going to find a husband or something?'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'Aren't you the one always telling me that I shouldn't be having romances?'

'I changed my mind when I realized you still live with us.'

'Oh, stop it, Des.' her mum chuckled. 'Steph, you stay with us as long as you like. Actually, don't ever move out.'

Alice giggled from her seat next to Valkyrie's mum. She was now four years old. She had wildly curly dark hair piled on her head, obviously inherited from her father, and the same wide brown eyes as her mother. She looked like Valkyrie had when she was four years old.

'Mum, I think Alice just made an unforgivable smell.' Valkyrie complained, wrinkling her nose.

Her dad made an exaggerated show of holding his nose and complaining. 'Silly baby! Naughty baby!'

'I'm not a baby.' Alice said crossly, folding her arms, obviously not happy that her little 'noise' had gone unappreciated.

'You're a toddler, sweetheart, you're close enough.' her mum smiled at her.

Valkyrie suddenly felt a pang of sadness- her sister was four years old, and she hadn't even known her until ten minutes ago. She'd missed her little sister's first word. She hadn't been there to witness her first steps and her first bit of solid food.

She'd missed the first four years of her little sister's life. Four years that she would never get back.

Valkyrie suddenly had to swallow a frog-sized lump in her throat.

It went on like this until Valkyrie had finished all her food- she really had been very hungry.

'I'm finished.' she announced, picking up her plate and getting to her feet. 'Thanks, dad, that was a _lovely _plate of burnt pasta.'

'Wasn't burnt.' her dad insisted grumpily, passing her his plate.

'Doing the washing up, love?' her mother asked, passing her her own plate. 'That's nice.'

'I know, isn't it?' Valkyrie grinned, going into the kitchen. In truth, she was only doing the dishes so she had more of an excuse to stay longer.

She made sure to take extra long in making sure each dish was completely spotless.

'Have I ever told either of you how much I love you?' Valkyrie asked when she was curled up on the couch, with her mum and dad and Alice either side of her.

'Not really.' her mum said. 'But it's nice to know you do.'

Valkyrie dad smiled at her. 'Love you, too, dear daughter.'

****HL****

'Finally.' Hades muttered when Blade's phone started ringing.

'This'll be Valkyrie.' Blade announced upon seeing the number. He answered it.

'Hi, Val. Ready to get back now?'

There was a pause.

'Great. See you in a few. Remember, we're taking you straight to that creepy doctor to get your injuries checked out.'

There was another pause as Valkyrie replied, and Blade chuckled.

'I'll try.' he said. 'Bye.'

'Maddox, go tell Skulduggery that Valkyrie's ready to come back, will you?' Blade asked.

'You're such a lazy ass.' Willow muttered under her breath.

Hades laughed. 'It's in our genes, right, brother?'

Blade rolled his eyes as Maddox left to get Skulduggery, grumbling about feeling like a slave.

'Don't go bombarding her with questions when she gets here, you hear?' Blade warned.

Hades snorted. 'What kind of idiots do you take us for? We're not exactly going to get up in her face and say, _Hey, Val, we heard you were tortured- that's so cool, what was it like?, _are we?'

'You might.' Hazel pointed out with a grin.

Hades rolled his eyes. 'Honestly. You all think I'm so tactless and rude.'

'That would be because you _are_ tactless and rude.' Willow said.

'Hey!' Hades protested. 'I am _not _tactless.'

'But you are kind of rude.'

'Let's be honest- I kind of am.' Hades chuckled. 'But it's a lovable quality.'

'No, trust me, it's not.' Blade muttered.

'In _me_ it is.' Hades insisted.

'I think Valkyrie's probably the only person who can put up with you for more than ten minutes at a time.' Hazel smirked.

'And that's why we love her.' Hades grinned.

There was a silence. Everyone in the room looked at him, and he realized what he'd said and groaned, rolling his eyes.

'Grow the hell up, you bunch of idiots. Of course we love Val- _as a friend_.' he said, glaring at them.

Hazel raised her hands defensively. 'We said nothing.'

Maddox returned to the room quietly. They were all residing, once again, in Blade's room in the Sanctuary. None of them had the key to Valkyrie's, or else they would all be crowded in there instead.

'Skulduggery's on his way to pick her up. They should be about twenty minutes.'

'Awesome.' Hades said, leaning back and resting his head against the wall.

Another twenty minutes of awkward conversation with the gang.

Wonderful.

**A/N: It's thirty two minutes past midnight, okay? But I'm bored, so I'm writing to pass the time while I wait for sleep to claim me. So you get another chapter. Yay me, double update, woo woo and all that! :D  
>Hope you liked this chapter. Forgive me if it's a little... for lack of a better word, <span>sleepy<span>. I'm tired, is all I will say on the matter.  
>Once again, thank you for reviews, please give me some more. Awesome, thanks! :)<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	15. I'm Fine!

**Chapter 15. **

'What,' Skulduggery said slowly as soon as Valkyrie stepped into the sleek, black Bentley, 'were you _thinking_?'

She should have known he would flip. It was to be expected, really. After all, he had warned her that she shouldn't go out for a walk.

'On the bright side, at least I managed to get away.' Valkyrie said smugly after a long pause.

If Skulduggery had a face, she was sure that he would have raised an eyebrow at her. 'There's a bright side?'

Valkyrie groaned. 'Skul, it's not that bad.'

'What exactly did they do to you?'

'Must we talk about this?'

'If you want to get your injuries healed, then yes, it would be extremely helpful.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'Just, you know, the standard torturous stuff. A lot of sword-slicing, from Tanith, no less.'

There was a frown in Skulduggery's voice when he said, 'Tanith was there?'

'Did I forget to mention that?'

'Yes, you did.' the skeleton detective said darkly. 'And she tortured you?'

'I wouldn't call it torture. Not really.' Valkyrie said immediately, her wandering eyes instinctively steeling on the barely-healing stab wound on her leg.

Skulduggery's gaze seemed to follow her hand. 'What's that?'

'Nothing.'

'I'm thinking that you're lying.'

'I'm thinking you should shut up.'

'How mature.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, turning her head to gaze out the window at the scenery that was flying by. She suddenly felt a strong, strong sense of deja vu- Skulduggery driving her from her parents' house in Haggard as they sneaked away to the Sanctuary from her oblivious family? Yes, the scene was very familiar.

'A penny for your thoughts.' Skulduggery's velvety voice interrupted her thoughts.

She shrugged. 'I was just thinking- four years ago, this would have been a normal occurrence, wouldn't it? Sneaking out of my house and all.'

Skulduggery nodded and remained silent.

'Was everyone okay, when I called?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well... you know. Was everyone okay.'

'Repeating your statement with emphasised slowness does not make me understand it any more.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes again. Her next words sounded somewhat vain, but she didn't really care. 'Did anyone, you know, freak out?'

'How so?'

Tapping her foot impatiently against the floor of the car, Valkyrie let her breath out slowly. 'Nothing. Forget I said anything, Mr I-Supposedly-Know-Everything.'

Skulduggery chuckled, neatly swerving out of the way of a parked car. 'I do know everything. I sometimes just make a point to pretend not to.'

'I bet.'

'Something telling me you're beginning to doubt my knowledge.'

Valkyrie snorted. 'Beginning?'

'What did they want with you? Tanith, I mean, and your kidnappers.'

There was a pause before she replied in a soft voice. 'Really, I would have thought that much would be obvious.'

'They wanted to bring Darquesse out, didn't they?'

Valkyrie nodded, keeping her gaze on the road in front of her. 'They tried, and they tried. Tanith was confused when I held her inside.'

'That rymed.'

'Simple things amuse simple minds.' Valkyrie smirked.

Skulduggery rolled his eyes. 'What a shame I'm not a simple mind Anyway, back to the subject. You... held her in?'

'Yep. Oh, come on, do you really think that over the past few years she's just decided to lay low inside my conscious?' she added upon seeing Skulduggery's head swivel towards her.

'So you've learned to repress her.'

'Basically.'

'That's impressive.' he said slowly. And, to Valkyrie's amazement, Skulduggery did sound genuinely impressed.

_Hmm, _she thought, _I've managed to impress him for once. That's a change_.

'Are we heading back to the Sanctuary?' Valkyrie asked, unable to stop a grimace forming on her face as she thought of her new room- her new _living space_. She tried to push her warm, cosy home in Haggard- and even her pretty, roomy apartment in California- out of her mind, purely to stop the depressing comparisons that kept whizzing through her head.

'Yes, we are. Your friends were very worried about you.'

'Were you?' Valkyrie asked innocently, glancing at Skulduggery out of the corner of her eye.

'What kind of question is that?' he asked incredulously. 'Of course I was worried.'

'Did you even know I was gone?'

'I have a sixth sense when it comes to you, Valkyrie.' Skulduggery said seriously. 'I know when things are wrong.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'And you didn't even think to, I don't know, look for me?'

'You're always asking us to trust you.' he shrugged. 'I thought you might appreciate that.'

'Well... I do.' Valkyrie said. And she did. She liked that, finally, someone had trusted her enough to leave her to her own business.

What a shame that it couldn't have happened at a more inconvenient time.

****HL****

Tanith jumped when Slash threw the door open and stormed into the room. 'What's wrong with you?'

Slash scowled at her. 'She got away.'

There was a pause before Tanith said, 'Well, that's a shame.'

He turned to look at her, eyes blazing. 'That's a _shame_? Do you know what this means, Low?'

'It means that we're going to have to be a hell of a lot more careful.' she said evenly. 'Can I ask you something?'

He exhaled with barely concealed fury. '_What_?'

'Have you ever considered anger therapy?'

Slash snarled, picking up the glass of water that Tanith had been sipping and hurling it right at her. She easily dodged out of the way, raising a blonde brow when she heard the smash of glass as it hit the plain red wall of her flat behind her. She knew she had a mess that she would need to clean up later, but she didn't really care. She would probably leave it to dear old Billy-Ray. He was useful for things like that.

'Jeesh,' she muttered. 'Can't take a joke...'

'This isn't the time for jokes, Low!'

Tanith waved her hand casually. 'It's always the time for jokes, Slash. And please... call me Tanith.'

He glared at her, letting out a low, almost inhuman growl under his breath, and then stalked out. Tanith waited a moment before the heard the _bang!_ of a door closing, and then let out the breath she had been secretly holding.

She briefly wondered if he was really so angry because Valkyrie had escaped... or if, maybe, he was angry because Tanith was the one who had allowed her to do so.

****HL****

Valkyrie grinned at Willow as the younger girl pulled away from their hug. 'Hi.' she said simply.

Willow squealed. 'Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!'

Valkyrie let out a low chuckle. 'Did you really expect me to not be?'

Willow beamed and stepped back, allowing Hazel to come in for her own hug.

'Okay,' Hazel whispered. 'I'm glad you're okay and all, but really, could you try and _not_ do that to us again?'

'What?' Valkyrie laughed. 'Get kidnapped and tortured? Believe me, I'll try.'

Hazel rolled her eyes and gave Valkyrie a smile before joining Willow. Valkyrie exchanged a hug and some kind words with Maddox next, and then Hades swaggered forwards.

'You know,' he said to her, 'I actually managed to survive without you for an hour or two.'

Valkyrie raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. 'Really?'

Hades grinned, and awkwardly held out his hand. Pursing her lips to withhold a grin, Valkyrie grabbed his hand and shook it firmly.

'Glad you're okay.' Hades added before stepping back.

Suddenly, Valkyrie was ambushed with a hug that was, surprisingly, even more fierce than Willow's had been.

'Blade,' she murmured. 'I do appreciate being able to breathe.'

'I don't care.' he said, and Valkyrie smiled upon hearing the relief in his voice.

'Yeah, but I like to think that you do.' she chuckled, pulling away and offering him a grin. 'Good to see you, too, buddy.'

He rolled his eyes, smirking at her. 'What does this prove?'

Valkyrie frowned. 'What?'

'This whole situation. It proves that you are stubborn and not always right, and that you should sometimes actually listen to what other people tell you to do.'

'But that's no fun.' Valkyrie pouted, before bursting into laughter. Blade joined in.

Valkyrie, however, stopped laughing immediately when she heard another awfully familiar voice speak.

'Hi, Val.'

She slowly turned round to look at Fletcher. He was smiling, but it didn't escape her notice how he was eyeing Blade with some suspicion.

'Hey.' she greeted, then frowned. 'Your hair...'

His hair, as it was, looked even more ridiculous than it normally did. Some parts were flat, while others were spiky. Acting on instinct, she licked her thumb and tried her best to spike Fletcher's hair the right way. When she was done, she stepped back with her head cocked to the side to admire her work. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Fletcher- the great, confident Fletcher Renn- blushing.

'Why, Mr Renn,' she teased. 'Are you blushing?'

'No.' he said immediately. 'It's... the lighting.'

She frowned. 'Fletcher, we're outside. There is no lighting.'

'There's... the sun.'

'The sun isn't pink.'

He scowled, looking away. Valkyrie chuckled. 'Glad to see you, too, Fletch.'

He looked back at her, eyes slightly wide. 'I am glad to see you! You know, it's good to see that you're not...'

'Dead?'

'Yeah. That.'

Valkyrie smiled hesitantly. 'Uh... yeah. Thanks.'

He nodded, then looked at Blade again. Valkyrie rolled her eyes and turned back to the others.

'So,' she said, sounding more cheery than she actually felt, 'what did you guys get up to while I was gone?'

'It was... boring.' Hazel said, folding her arms.

'Yeah. It was _shocking _to find out that _you're _the entertainment source in this group.' Hades smirked.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'Of course I am.' she grinned. 'I'm cool.'

'Of course you are.' Blade said teasingly, only to be swatted on the arm by a mock-offended Valkyrie.

'Hey!' he protested, rubbing his arm. 'Ouch.'

'I _am_ cool.' she said defensively.

'The coolest I know.' Blade said quickly, edging away from her ever-so-slightly. Valkyrie frowned. Did she really hit that hard?

'Anyway, how was it?' Hades' question brought silence upon the rest of the group. They all stared at him.

Hazel was the one who finally broke the silence. 'Are you really that _stupid_?' she asked incredulously, an outraged expression on her face.

'It's fine.' Valkyrie said, holding a hand up to silence Blade, who had opened his mouth to speak with an expression of fury on his handsome face.

'Sorry.' Hades muttered, cringing.

'It's all right.' Valkyrie said quietly. 'I know what you mean.'

'I swear, me and him don't share the same genes.' Blade muttered, shaking his head.

'Really?' Maddox said, smirking. 'I don't know, you have an awful lot of similarities...'

Both brothers looked appalled.

'_Never_ say that again.' Hades growled.

'That is utterly untrue.' Blade said at the same time.

The rest of them laughed. Valkyrie glanced behind her at Fletcher, who was still stood there, rooted to the same spot as he had been stood in the whole time. Valkyrie frowned at him. 'Are you okay?' she asked him softly.

'Why wouldn't I be?' he asked stiffly. 'If you'll excuse me...'

He started to leave. Valkyrie made to call out after him, reached her and out, but then thought better of it and withdrew her hand. Shaking her head slowly, she turned back to the others.

'Is he-' Willow started, only for Valkyrie to cut her off.

'He's fine.' she said with clenched teeth. What had him so upset?

'Whatever you say.' Maddox said doubtfully.

**A/N: Finally! I'm so sorry I didn't update last week- things were going on, I had a script to memorise, I genuinely didn't have time to update! Hope you'll forgive me with this chapter... Just so you all know, I update once a week, every Sunday.  
>Okay, so, here's the chapter. I hope you liked it!<br>And ooh.. what do you think is going on with poor Fletcher? Me thinks he's a tad jealous.  
>See you next update! :)<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	16. Darling

**Chapter 16. **

'And here you are again, in my humble facility, with more serious wounds.' Nye smiled a sick smile. 'How... unfortunate, Miss Cain.'

Valkyrie clenched her teeth and tried not to make a snappy retort that would make him want to pour salt into her wounds rather than heal them.

'Nothing to say? Well, that makes a pleasant change.' Nye chuckled, noticing her silence.

'Get on with it, Nye.' Skulduggery said in a warning tone. He was wearing his fade, just so he could give Nye threatening glares when he wanted to.

'Of course.' Nye said, bowing his head slightly, a small smirk on his face. He started to explain how he would start the healing process. 'First, we'll need to clean the wounds. God knows that you've been doing since you got them... when was it?'

'This afternoon. And I already washed them- I had a shower.' Valkyrie said.

'Yes, well.' Nye sniffed, something which Valkyrie had thought would be quite impossible, since the vile creature didn't even have a proper nose. 'Clearly not very well. They'll still have to be disinfected. And then we can move on to healing them up.'

'Kenspeckle was a much better doctor than you.' Valkyrie scowled.

Nye grinned. 'I highly doubt that.'

'No, seriously. He was. He had much better bedside manners.' Valkyrie retorted.

Nye gave her a harsh glare and stalked over to a desk near the door, picking up a long bottle of pale blue liquid and examining it carefully. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at the doctor's back and then turned her head against the pillow so she was looking at Skulduggery, who was sat, still as stone, on a chair by her bedside. His hands were placed in his lap and his hat was tilted low over his brow.

'You can go. Seriously.' she told him.

'I'd rather stay. At least then I'd be able to keep _that_,' he moved his hand to gesture in the direction of Doctor Nye, 'in line.'

'But, when you think about it, there's a four-hundred year-old skeleton sitting by my bedside, just watching me. It's a little creepy.' Valkyrie teased, sticking her tongue out when he made an offended noise.

'But, when you think about it, it's really just fine, because it's _me_.'

She rolled her eyes, grinning, and then looked up at Nye as he returned to her bed. 'Now, this may sting a little.' he said with a slight smile before soaking a piece of cotton wool in the blue liquid and dabbing it on the stab wound in her leg. It stung a little.

But Valkyrie didn't even wince.

'Did you see where they took you?' Skulduggery asked her as Nye cleaned her wounds.

Valkyrie shook her head, sighing. 'For the last time, Skulduggery, _no_. All I know was that it was a place in or near Haggard.'

The great skeleton detective nodded slowly. 'Just checking.'

'For what?'

'Signs that you may have just had a temporary case of amnesia that's just worn off.'

'Why would I have amnesia? Did something happen?' she joked.

'Apart from your mother dropping you on your head as a child? No.' Skulduggery retorted, amusement in his voice.

'Actually, she didn't drop me on my head. My dad did. In the penguin enclosure at the zoo.'

'Forgive me for saying, but I'm not surprised.'

Valkyrie drew in a sharp breath as she felt a needle suddenly pierce her in the skin.

'Oh, sorry. Should I have warned you?' Nye said absently, not sounding like he cared in the least bit.

'No. It's fine.' Valkyrie clenched her teeth. 'I was just surprised.'

Time passed. Nye finished stitching up Valkyrie's wounds as she chattered and joked with Skulduggery, making the odd rude comment to Nye.

'There. They should heal quite quickly from here on.; Nye announced as he dropped the bloodied needle onto a silver tray, then tossed the tray on the floor. Huh. How sanitary. 'I take it I can trust you to _stay_ here this time, and not walk out again?'

'_You _can't trust me to do anything.'

Nye scowled at her and left, and it was a few minutes later that Valkyrie got some more visitors.

'Hey, guys.' she greeted as Blade, Hades, Willow, Hazel and Maddox walked in.

'I swear, if we have to visit you in here again tomorrow...' Maddox threatened jokingly.

Valkyrie laughed. 'I won't lie and say that you won't.'

'Feeling better?' Blade asked.

'Much, yes, thanks for asking. You just missed Doctor Nye.' Valkyrie added, grinning at the grimace that crossed Willow's face.

'Good.' the red-head said sulkily.

Valkyrie laughed. 'Thanks for coming to visit me.'

'Did you really think we wouldn't?' Maddox asked incredulously.

Valkyrie smirked. 'I don't know. Maybe you all secretly hate me.'

'That's likely.' Hades rolled his eyes, flopping onto the end of Valkyrie's hospital bed, despite her protests.

'Get off my feet!' she shouted, a little too loudly, kicking her legs up and ignoring the shooting pain the action brought her. It was worth it to see Hades yelp and shoot up to his feet, giving everyone a glare when they laughed.

'As amusing as your antics are,' Skulduggery said, getting to his feet in a more calm manner than Hades had, 'And, trust me, this is amusing... I have to be going.'

Valkyrie frowned at him. 'Uh... okay. Why?'

'Business to get to.'

'Stop being vague. I actually like specific answers.'

'You can get one in the morning. If you're lucky.'

Valkyrie stuck her tongue out, then paused. Her tongue still hung over her lip. She withdrew it slowly.

Skulduggery sighed. 'Valkyrie, please don't try to guess-'

'Shush.' she ordered. 'I'm thinking.'

'And I'm leaving. Good day.'

'Wait! I'm guessing that you're going to see Ravel- about the case!' Valkyrie called after him.

'No.'

'Then you're going to see Fletcher.'

Skulduggery paused in his step and turned to look at her, folding his arms over his rib-cage. 'You really think I'd give that half-wit any more of my time than I already have to?'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'Good point. Fine, don't tell me- I'll have guessed by the morning anyway.'

'Good luck with that. Hope you heal quickly, and don't fall over as soon as you stand up this time.'

Valkyrie scowled at his back as he left the ward. She turned back to her friends. They were all looking at her- apart from Hazel, who was gazing at the floor and edging closer to Maddox with every second.

'You and him... you're really close.' Blade stated finally, breaking the too-long silence that had fallen upon them.

Valkyrie shrugged, barely wincing at the pain that sliced through her from the action. Okay, so maybe she wasn't so healed, after all. 'I guess we are.'

'You guess?' Willow snorted.

'Why are we talking about this?' Valkyrie asked impatiently.

There was another moment of silence before Hades spoke up, sarcasm laced into his voice. 'Well, pardon us for trying to get to know you a little better, Little Miss High-And-Mighty.'

'Shut up, Hades.' Blade muttered, elbowing his older brother.

'Make me.' Hades retorted, shoving his brother back.

'Enough, you two.' Valkyrie interrupted, her voice firm. 'As interesting as a cat fight between you two ladies would be, there are other issues at hand.'

Hades looked downright offended- probably by Valkyrie's use of the word _ladies_- but he shut up.

Wise of him.

'Like...?' Hazel pressed, glancing up from the shiny white floor.

'The case we're working on. The people who tried to kidnap me. The shedload of vampires that seem to be here. The idiotic zombie who just escaped from prison. Oh, gee, I don't know, Hazel.' Valkyrie snapped, then winced when Hazel took a step back and hid her face behind her hair. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to snap.'

'It's fine.' Hazel muttered.

But, still, she didn't move out of her hidden position all evening.

****HL** **

It was past nightfall when Valkyrie decided, once again, that she'd had enough of lying in a hospital bed.

'Remind me to _not_ go back there again in the next two days.' she said to Willow as they walked out, Blade's hand pressed firmly against the dark-haired girl's back to stop her from losing her balance and falling over.

'I don't think there's much good trying to separate you from your beloved hospital bed any more, Val.' Willow teased. 'Ah, forbidden love.'

Valkyrie chuckled. 'You should make jokes more often, Willow, they really endear you to a person. I'm quite sure Erskine especially likes a girl with a sense of humour...'

Valkyrie laughed loudly when Willow's hand came flailing out, trying to make contact with Valkyrie's arm. Valkyrie dodged and nearly lost her footing in a rare moment of clumsiness, only to be caught gracefully by the ever-alert Blade.

'Thanks.' she breathed as he let her go.

'Don't mention it.' he said gruffly, picking up pace in his walk a little bit. Valkyrie frowned at his back, but didn't comment, and turned back to her conversation with Willow.

Why was everyone acting strange today?

****HL** **

Ghastly was making clothes.

They were his first creations for a while, and he had almost forgotten about how happy sewing clothes had made him, back when it was just him and his beloved tailor's shop.

Now, of course, he was an Elder, and usually far too busy for this kind of thing.

He managed to make an exception in the case of Valkyrie, though.

Ghastly had offered to make clothes for the rest of her American friends, but they had all politely- or, in Hades' case, not so politely- declined.

Valkyrie's order was simple. Long black coat, black pants, blank tank top, black boots, blood red lining on all the materials. Pretty much the same as always, except, Ghastly noted, her clothes lately had been a little more tight-fitting.

Skulduggery had went to Ghastly and told him that he had permission to leave the Sanctuary for about an hour, more if he needed, to begin work on Valkyrie's clothes. Apparently, something had happened, and she was going to need them sooner than planned.

Two days in. Ghastly shook his head slowly as he ran a piece of black cloth under a sewing machine. Two days in, and she'd gotten herself into trouble _again_.

That girl...

He spent the new fifteen minutes pondering Ireland's new arrivals and all the drama and trouble they brought with them as he made the clothes, until he heard a noise like a motorbike's engine revving from outside the shop. Immediately, his eyes narrowed and his hands stopped moving. The noise again.

It sounded suspiciously like Tanith's motorbike.

But it couldn't be... could it?

Not even hesitating, Ghastly dropped the materials and got to his feet, marching to the front door and peering outside. Once again, it had started to rain.

He spotted something outside. It was a figure- a feminine one, slim yet shapely, advancing closer towards the shop. All he could see of her was a blur of brown and blonde. As she got closer, he was sure he could see a long, sharp sword gleaming in the belt around her small waist.

It was. She was here. Tanith was coming to his shop, and Ghastly had no way to defend himself. He glanced wildly around, looking desperately for some kind of weapon to prepare him for the attack that Remnant-Tanith was sure to bring, but he could find nothing except a few very heavy sewing machines and a shed-load of materials.

Damn. Now he could see why Skulduggery was always going on about preparing one's self. It would have been damn useful in this situation.

Holding his breath in anticipation, Ghastly turned back to peer into the rain again. The figure was closer- very close, in fact. She was stood right out the door, a soft smile on her face. She lifted her hand to knock unnecessarily on the door.

Ghastly wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe it was the sight of Tanith as she had been many years ago- free and healthy and beautiful- that had brought up his long-buried feelings for her. Maybe it was the sudden, unexplained rush of adrenaline that burst through him upon seeing her face again, and that sword.

He swung the door open.

Tanith grinned a black-lipped grin. 'Hello, darling.'

**A/N: Yay, new chapter- sooner than promised! ;D This is to make up for the lack of update last week. Woo!  
>Hope you liked it. Yay, TanithGhastly meeting!  
>Thank you so much for the reviews! They ALL make my day! :D Keep them coming, they persuade me to give you extra updates- like this one, for instance! ;D<br>Just read the whole story through on my profile, actually. Sixteen chapters already, eh? Why, soon enough the story will be finished! D;  
>And sorry, if it seems a little... broken up. I had to stop in parts because I had maths homework- ew, long division. Die, maths, die. Even though I'm in top set. O:)<br>You guys are all amazing, I don't know what I'd do without you. :D See you all next update!  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	17. Slipping Through

**Chapter 17. **

'Tanith.' Ghastly said shakily. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'What?' Tanith asked innocently. 'I can't drop in to see my favourite tailor every now and again?'

'Really, why are you here?' Ghastly asked in a hard voice.

_This isn't Tanith, Tanith isn't here any more, this is a Remnant... _

He wasn't doing a very good job of convincing himself.

'I thought I'd check in on you. You always were just so sweet... have you seen Valkyrie lately, by any chance?' she asked.

_A-ha, _Ghastly thought. Now he knew why she was here.

'I'm afraid I haven't.' he replied stiffly. 'Now, please leave.'

Tanith laughed out loud. 'Or what? You'll swing a punch? You may be a boxer, Ghastly, but violence isn't the answer to everything. And anyway, you can't try and hurt me.'

'Oh, really? And why can't I?'

'Because you can't do any harm to me without harming your dear Tanith.'

'I can sure as hell try.' Ghastly said gruffly.

Tanith stopped laughing and glared. 'You wouldn't dare hurt me.'

'Try me.'

She grinned at him. 'That's my boy. Tough, strong... but you're being so mean to me, Ghastly.' Tanith pouted, and suddenly all the black veins had retracted and she looked exactly as she had four years ago, before all of this Remnant business.

'Tanith.' Ghastly whispered, barely resisting the urge to hold out a hand and stroke her pale cheek. 'What happened to you?'

'I got better.' she murmured back.

Ghastly shook his head. He was talking to a Remnant, not Tanith... but then, why did it seem like it was Tanith's innocent blue eyes that he was looking into? Why did it sound like Tanith's soft voice talking to him? Why was it all so complicated all of a sudden?

'Get out of her.' Ghastly ordered darkly, clenching his fists.

'No.'

'_Get out of Tanith_.'

She laughed again. 'Or what? You'll punch me out? I'm bonded with her now, Ghastly. I couldn't leave, even if I wanted to.'

'There has to be a way.' Ghastly muttered, more to himself than to Tanith.

'You keep believing that, sweetie.' Tanith murmured, reaching out and patting him on the shoulder.

'Get _off_ me!' Ghastly shouted, stepping back.

Tanith giggled. 'Feisty. Has my big boy gotten even stronger now?'

'Get the hell out of my shop.'

'But it's so warm in here... and it's so cold out there.' she blinked, and then smiled. 'I was thinking, you know, I'd love for you to make me a pair of nice, warm boots. And pants. A new outfit, really, something like Val's. It gets so cold out there in just this leather. What do you say?'

'What?' Ghastly couldn't help be confused. If he thought the Remnant had sounded like Tanith before... it was nothing compared to how she sounded now. But then she blinked again and her eyes were cold, like they had been before.

'Nothing,' she said darkly. 'I said nothing.'

'Tanith?' Ghastly said loudly. 'Was that you?'

'You wanted me to leave before? Well, you got your wish- I'm going now.' Tanith said.

Ghastly reached out, acting on instinct, and grabbed her wrist. He held it tightly, and she whirled, a surprised expression on her face. 'What was that?'

'Nothing!'

'Tanith just slipped through, didn't she? She did!' he was suddenly excited. 'Tanith? _Tanith_! Can you hear me?'

'Stop it!' Tanith suddenly screamed, pulling her hand back and covering her ears. '_Stop it!_'

'She can hear me, can't she?' Ghastly demanded, grabbing Tanith's wrists and pulling them away from her head.

'No!' Tanith protested.

'Let her out.' Ghastly ordered. 'Just let her out. It will all stop if you just-'

'_Enough!' _Tanith snarled, her face inches from Ghastly's. 'I _am_ Tanith Low, so there is no one _to_ let out, do you hear me? A nicer, better version of me will not be making any kind of appearance in the foreseeable future, or ever, because she _doesn't exist_! So just _stop!_'

Ghastly inched his face closer to hers. 'I don't believe that. I know she's in there somewhere, trying to get out.'

'Stop...'

Their faces were mere centimetres apart.

'Tanith knows it, and you know it, too. You know it's only a matter of time before...'

That was when the ground below them started to shake, and tiny cracks started to spread at their feet. They leapt apart just in time to see a head emerge from the ground, followed by a whole body.

'Billy-Ray.' Tanith said breathlessly. 'Finally.'

'Hey there, honeybee.' he grinned at her and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her into him. Then he looked at Ghastly with a frown. 'See ya, Scarface.'

'No!' Ghastly shouted as he saw them both start to sink into the ground, but he was too late.

The last thing he saw of Tanith was her face, and it was because of her expression that he knew the real Tanith had managed to slip through again, if only for a second.

She looked utterly heartbroken.

****HL****

Thud. Thud. Thud.

'Blade!' Valkyrie shouted, moving her face as close to the wall linked to Blade's room as was possible. 'Knock it off, or so help me, I will come in there, take that ball off you and shove it where the sun don't shine!'

'Good luck with that, the door's locked!' was Blade's yelled reply.

Thud. Thud.

'_Blade Koldo_!' Valkyrie screeched.

'Blade, dude, knock it off before she deafens the rest of us!' Maddox shouted from the room to the right of Valkyrie's.

'What are you even doing?' Valkyrie heard Willow shout from the room next to Blade's.

'I'm only bouncing a ball against the wall! Calm down!' Blade yelled.

'Yeah, well, it's _my_ wall too, and I'm trying to sleep!' Valkyrie shouted back, annoyed.

Thud.

'Oh, that's it.' Valkyrie muttered under her breath, jumping to her feet and running out of her door and over to Blade's room, banging her fist against the door. 'Open the door! Open it right now!'

'No!'

With an enraged snarl, Valkyrie went back into her room and took her trusty staff from under her bed. She returned to Blade's door and whacked the staff against the door a few times until the lock splintered and opened.

When she peered inside, she saw a suddenly frightened-looking Blade sat on his bed, a tennis ball in his hand, his mouth making a perfect _O_ shape.

'I warned you.' Valkyrie said lowly. '_Twice_. I have had one hell of a day, Blade Koldo, and I'm just trying to sleep. Just sleep. Is that too much to ask? Am I suddenly not allowed to rest? Huh? Apparently not, since something seems to have pissed you off, and of course when Blade's angry, nothing else matters! _Knock. It. Off. And. Go. To. Sleep. _If I have to come back in here one more time, God help me, I will-'

'What the hell's going on?' a slightly breathless voice demanded from the doorway, interrupting Valkyrie's rant. She whirled and saw Erskine.

'Nothing.' she said in a strained voice. 'You can go.'

'Huh, sounds like nothing.' Erskine snorted. 'I heard shouting. Well, screaming. Is everything okay?'

'Does it look okay?' Blade asked. 'I think she wants to kill me.'

'Oh, you _think_?' Valkyrie growled, looking at her best friend menacingly.

'Valkyrie, calm down. You're just tired and cranky-'

'I wouldn't be if you'd shut up long enough for me to sleep!'

'Both of you, stop arguing.' Erskine said, running a hand through his brown hair. He looked just as tired as Valkyrie felt. She suddenly felt guilty for causing him distress.

'Sorry.' she muttered respectfully.

Erskine nodded with a small smile at her, then his eyes fell on the staff in her hand and he frowned. 'Why the hell are you carrying a stick?'

'It's not a stick, it's a staff.'

'Same thing. Why?'

'It's a weapon. Incredibly handy, really, and I know for a fact that it terrifies the others when they see me angry with it in my hand.'

'That's... disturbing.' Erskine shook his head and looked between Blade and Valkyrie. 'Are you both okay now?'

'Hold on. Let me control my breathing.' Valkyrie said, taking a deep breath, her only real method of calming down. As she felt the anger leave her, she knew she had overreacted. 'Sorry, Blade...'

'S'okay.' the dark-haired teen muttered. 'Sorry for keeping you awake.'

Valkyrie gave him a grin which he returned.

Erskine rolled his eyes and walked off, muttering under his breath.

'I think we may have woken up the entire Sanctuary.' Valkyrie joked.

'You mean, _you _may have woken up the entire Sanctuary.' Blade corrected with a smirk. 'You have a great set of lungs on you.'

'They match my great personality.'

'Sure.' Blade teased. He then sighed and patted the bed. 'Sit?'

Valkyrie hesitated, not sure whether to return to her own bed or stay here and talk to Blade. Seeing the hopefulness on Blade's face, however, is what convinced her. Her best friend needed to talk to her; what right did she have to say no?

'Okay.' she replied, walking over to the bed and sitting beside him. The lamp was on, and the rain was pattering against the window. 'Everything okay?'

Blade shrugged. 'I guess. I just... I can't sleep.'

'Homesick?'

'I don't know.' he admitted.

'There's nothing wrong with being homesick.' Valkyrie smiled.

'What if it's not homesickness?' he asked. 'I just... there's something wrong, and I don't know what it is.'

'That's a problem, then, isn't it?'

'You think?' he asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

'Want to talk about it?'

'No. Not about that. Let's just... talk. I'm bored, and we're both tired, and there's nothing better to do.'

'We could just sleep.'

'I can't.'

'Oh, yeah.' Valkyrie sighed. 'Right.'

'Why are you so cranky?' Blade asked, sounding genuinely curious instead of judgemental, like any other person would.

That was one of his traits that Valkyrie liked. He never judged his friends, no matter what they did.

She shrugged. 'I guess torture would do that to a person. And, you know, the tiredness. And Doctor Nye's actual existence.'

'I'm sorry. You've had a crappy day.'

'I think we all have.' Valkyrie sighed again and rested her head on Blade's shoulder. She felt him stiffen beneath her, but he quickly relaxed and pulled her in for a hug.

'It's okay, you know.' he said.

'What is?' Valkyrie asked, frowning.

'To admit that you're not always as tough as you pretend to be.'

'Are you saying I'm not tough?' Valkyrie's poor attempt to lighten the mood worked. They both chuckled.

'You're the toughest girl I know.' Blade answered sincerely. 'But sometimes, it's all right to let people know that you're scared, or hurt, or you've made a mistake. It's only human.'

'You sound like a wise old man.'

'You're not taking this in at all, are you?'

'Nope.' Valkyrie grinned, still hugging him tightly. 'Sorry.'

They stayed like that for a while- hugging and talking- until, eventually, they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

**A/N: Short chapter, I know! I'm sorry! It's exactly midnight now, so, yes. Apologies for any sloppiness.  
>Okay, so, I have one little task for you lovely people: <span>Name a pairing!<span> ANY pairing at all between any of the characters in this story! I need some help with a few, and it always helps to know what you think I should do. So, leave a review with the names of the people you want to end up together in this story! :D  
>Anyway. I hope you liked this chapter! :) And the TanithGhastly interaction. I hope that was all right, too!  
>Thank you for all the amazing reviews. I have actually fifty-freaking-eight. It's amazing. Please, keep them coming, and I'll update faster! :D<br>Keep on truckin'.  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	18. Where's Hazel?

**Chapter 18. **

That night, Valkyrie dreamed of Darquesse.

It wasn't the first time, and she knew that it certainly wasn't going to be the last. It was a recurring dream, and was definitely not a pleasant one.

She awoke to the sound of her name being called.

'Valkyrie. _Valkyrie_.' a pause. '_Valkyrie Cain_.'

'What?' she groaned groggily, peering up at the owner of the voice. She saw Hades grinning down at her.

'You should probably get up. Same for you, Blade.'

Valkyrie frowned, and it was then that she realized she felt warm arms around her waist. Oh, yeah. She'd fell asleep with Blade.

'Blade,' she said softly, twisting in his arms to see his face. 'Get the hell up.'

He didn't stir. She sighed frustratedly and let her face fall onto his shoulder. That seemed to wake him up.

'What...? Val?'

'Take your arms off me before I rip them from your body.'

'Understood.' he hastily withdrew his arms and Valkyrie leapt to her feet.

She shot him a smile. 'Thanks.'

'Should I leave you two lovebirds alone?' Hades asked, and Valkyrie remembered his presence in the room. She spared him a glance.

'Yeah, you should.' she said.

Hades laughed a booming laugh and left. Valkyrie glanced down at her pyjamas and raised an eyebrow. 'Are you sure you didn't try to take advantage of me last night?'

Blade chuckled, but Valkyrie didn't miss the pink tinge to his cheeks. 'Pretty sure. You would have most likely beaten me to a pulp if I tried anythink.'

She nodded, grinning. 'True. I'm going to go get dressed. I suggest you do the same- you're still wearing yesterday's clothes.'

He shrugged. 'Not really a big deal.'

'You probably smell.'

'I don't smell, Valkyrie.'

'Of body odour and sweat.'

'I don't smell!'

'I'm pretty sure you should take a shower, before you kill everyone with the overpowering smell.'

'Val, shut up.'

'I would tell me to shut up, if I were you.' she grinned, walking over to the doorway and throwing over her shoulder, 'I can beat you to a pulp, remember?'

Valkyrie left and returned to her own room, still smiling to herself. She was glad she had Blade- she probably wouldn't have been able to deal with everything that was happening if she didn't have him there with her.

She was considering this as she threw on a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt and tied her dark hair into a messy ponytail.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. 'Come in.' she called, glancing over to see Willow pop her head through the door.

'Oh, good, you're dressed.' she smiled. 'Erskine wants us all down there.'

Valkyrie nodded. In truth, she'd forgotten all about the case that they were supposed to be working on.

_I guess there's just been too much going on, _she thought absently to herself as she followed Willow out. They both went knocking on everyone's doors. Blade had been halfway through getting dressed when Valkyrie went to his door, making her blush uncharacteristically and blurt out the message for him to be at Erskine's office in ten minutes. She went to Hades' room and found him practising his symbol magic by putting protective wards in his doorway. Maddox was still asleep, and Valkyrie had to literally pull him off the bed to wake him up. Finally, she knocked on Hazel's door, only to get no response. Frowning, Valkyrie pushed open the door, only to find that Hazel wasn't in there.

'Where's she gone at this time?' Willow asked with a frown of her own.

Valkyrie shrugged. 'It's only seven thirty. Maybe she's gone to the bathroom or something.'

'Or got some breakfast.' Hades said from behind them.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes at him. 'This isn't a hotel, Hades.'

'Well, _I_ want breakfast.'

'Then go find some.'

'Where?' he asked in a whiny voice.

Valkyrie sighed and ignored him, simply leaning against Hazel's door and waiting for Blade and Maddox to emerge from their rooms and for Hazel to hopefully show up.

'Erskine might get mad if we're not there.' Willow worried.

'You're really not trying to hide this crush you have on him, are you?' Valkyrie asked drily.

Willow's blush was deep. 'I don't have a crush on anyone.'

This caused Hades to break out into a booming laugh. 'Yeah, of course you don't!' he chortled.

Willow scowled at Valkyrie and Hades and turned away, folding her arms stubbornly across her chest.

'Hurry up, you two.' Valkyrie muttered under her breath. As if he'd heard her, Blade came out of his room only seconds later, wearing an apologetic grin.

'Sorry.' he said. 'Couldn't find my shirt.'

'Figured that much.' Valkyrie snorted. 'Hey, have you seen Hazel?'

Blade tilted his head to the side. 'Nope, I've been in my room. Why? Is she missing?'

'She isn't in her room.' Willow shrugged.

'Why don't we call her?' Valkyrie suggested. 'But use your phone, Willow, mine's in pieces on a floor somewhere.'

'Good idea.' Willow murmured, digging in her trouser pockets and pulling out her mobile phone. She dialled the number and pressed the phone to her ear and waited. Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing came from the inside of the room Valkyrie was leaning against.

'Oh, _seriously_?' Valkyrie groaned, letting her head fall into her hands.

'She left without her phone?' Blade sounded uneasy. 'That doesn't sound like Hazel.'

'Maybe...' Hades started, then shook his head. 'She could have forgot it or something.'

'Or she could have been kidnapped.' Valkyrie reasoned, deadly serious.

'Please, let's not think about that.' Willow pleaded.

They waited for another few minutes until Maddox trudged sleepily out of his room.

'You really can't handle early mornings, can you?' Valkyrie asked him critically.

'I managed them fine in California.'

'That wasn't _early_, we got up at nine o'clock.'

'Have you seen Hazel?' Willow interrupted.

A worried frown crossed Maddox's face. 'What? No. Where is she?'

'If we knew, do you really think we'd ask you?'

'Is she not in her room?'

'You know, I didn't think to look there.' Valkyrie said sarcastically.

'Maybe she's gone to get, I don't know, breakfast or something.'

'That's what I said.' Hades added with a triumphant smile.

'It's _not_ a hotel.'

'Maybe she's already there.' Blade suggested.

'What if she's not?' Maddox asked, his concern evident in his voice.

'Then we'll look for her.' Valkyrie said evenly. 'Calm down, Mad, it'll be fine.'

'Let's hope so.' he said dubiously as they started walking down to Erskine's office.

'So,' Blade said as he fell into step beside Valkyrie, 'You're not wearing your fighting clothes.'

'The point of them is to protect my body- they're not much good when, in total, they're only covering a quarter of me.'

'They got torn up that bad?'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'Close enough. Ghastly's making me some new ones, so it'll be fine. I just need to wait.'

'You always told us that waiting isn't a wise thing to do in the magical world, when the next attack could happen any time.'

'But when it comes to _clothes..._' Valkyrie trailed off with a grin.

They reached Erskine's office, and Valkyrie knocked once before pushing the door open, not waiting for a reply. Erskine sat at his desk opposite Ghastly Bespoke. Skulduggery was stood in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall.

'Is everything okay?' Valkyrie asked immediately.

'Tanith paid me a visit.' Ghastly explained before Erskine could.

'Are you okay?' Valkyrie wasn't stupid. She knew the affect that Tanith would have had on Ghastly.

'I'm fine.' he said quickly. 'But I think I may have found something out.'

He explained what had happened, and how the real Tanith might be slipping through the cover of the remnant. The revelation made Valkyrie feel such hope inside that she momentarily forgot about Hazel and squealed with a sudden onslaught of joy.

'Really? Well, that's amazing! We just need a little more work and-'

'Valkyrie. Tanith only came to the shop because she was looking for you.'

Her joy suddenly crumbled and she frowned. 'That shouldn't surprise me- after all, she was one of my captors yesterday. But...'

'Yes?' Erskine said encouragingly.

'Well, I was thinking that maybe it was _her_ who allowed me to escape yesterday.'

Ghastly frowned. 'How so?'

'She left the latch on my door unlocked.'

'Maybe Tanith slipped through for long enough to help you get out.' Skulduggery suggested.

'Maybe.' Valkyrie said. Then Maddox cleared his throat from behind her, and Valkyrie knew he was impatient to find out where Hazel was. The two were close, she knew that.

'Uh, have any of you seen Hazel anywhere, by any chance?' she asked.

'No.' Erskine frowned. 'Please tell me she's not...'

'Missing? I'm afraid so.'

'Let's not call her missing.' Willow said hastily.

'Well then, where is she?' Hades demanded. 'When a person can't be found and isn't where she's supposed to be, she can be deemed as missing.'

'She could just be out.' Blade said.

'Have you tried calling her?' Skulduggery asked.

'Yep.' Valkyrie nodded. 'She left her phone in her room.'

'That's... worrying.' Erskine admitted. 'Should we send out Cleavers?'

'We can't just send out Cleavers and hope they'll get lucky.' Blade reasoned. 'They could be gone all day and still find nothing.'

'Blind luck is surprisingly helpful.' Skulduggery offered.

'Oh, what do we do?' Willow moaned.

Valkyrie ran a hand through her hair. 'Okay. Look. Willow, you need to calm down, okay? You too, Maddox. Blade, this seems to be the best option we have right now, unless any one else is willing to give any suggestions.' she glanced around at everyone. 'And those suggestions should preferably be made _now_.'

'I love it when you get all soldier-like.' Hades broke the sudden silence.

'So do I.' Valkyrie flashed a grin, then returned to seriousness. 'No? No suggestions? All right then, Erskine, send out the Cleavers.'

'Are you sure-'

'Yes, Grand Mage.' she smirked.

'O... okay, then.' Erskine shook his head, almost to himself, and then got to his feet. 'Excuse me. I have a search squad to send out.'

'Thank you!' Willow called after him.

**A/N: Meeeeeh... okay, so I should probably stop writing chapters at about midnight. It's not fair- inspiration just seems to stop existing when I'm tired.  
>But, hey ho! Hope you liked the chapter anyway. What do you guys think has happened to poor old Hazel? ;D<br>Thank you for all the reviews! Seriously, they make my day, all of them! Please keep them coming!  
>Sorry for the shortness and such of this chapter. I was in a hurry when I realized I'd forgotten to write all the chapters for the update tomorrow... today? O.O<br>So here I am, at midnight, trying my best to write four chapters. Wish me luck! :D  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	19. She Won't Come

**Chapter 19. **

Hazel shook her head. 'She won't come. Valkyrie isn't that stupid- she won't fall for it.'

'Oh, stop crying and shut up.' the blonde woman rolled her eyes and smirked at the Hazel. 'Tears get you nowhere.'

As much as she tried, Hazel couldn't get the tears to stop flowing. She hated crying- it made her look weak, made her feel weak. But she just couldn't help it. Here she was, in an unfamiliar room, trapped, unable to leave. It didn't help that her captors were constantly tormenting her, refused to leave her alone and kept asking her where Val was.

But Hazel didn't tell them. She refused to tell them, the blonde woman and the scarred man, where one of her best friends was.

'Tanith, do you think...?' the man with the odd eyes and the pink scar trailed off, looking at the blonde woman- Tanith, did the man call her?

Tanith sighed. 'You're forgetting, my dear Slash- I know Val, better than a lot of people. If there's one thing she can't resist, it's helping people when they're in trouble. Trust me, she'll come.'

'If you say so.' the man called Slash still sounded dubious.

Hazel squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the world like she so often did when she was upset. She tried, once again, in vain to try and use her water powers. She had noticed that there was a half-empty glass of water on the coffee table that sat in front of the couch she was tied to, so she tried to focus on it.

_Focus on the water. Ignore the binds- the binds don't work. You can do this. You can do magic. The binds aren't working and you're winning. Focus on the water. The water. Water. Water. Water. _

Hazel opened her eyes and peered at the glass. She sighed when she saw that nothing had happened- though she wasn't surprised. She'd known after her seventh attempt that it was pointless to even try, because her magic was bound by her ties- but she tried anyway, as a way to pass the time.

She looked at her surroundings. Red walls, glass coffee table, cream white couch. There was a lot of red, a lot of glass. A fireplace sat on the wall opposite where Hazel was, and on it sat some pictures. One was of the Tanith woman- with Valkyrie. The picture made Hazel frown- so they'd been friends once? They were both grinning in the picture. Valkyrie herself looked young- maybe fifteen years old. Hazel was sure that she'd heard Valkyrie talking about a woman called Tanith once... and there weren't many people called Tanith in the world, Hazel was sure of that.

It was all just so confusing.

She wasn't sure how long she sat in stony silence, listening to her two captors exchange quiet words and sharp looks, before she heard the sound of a door opening. She instantly stiffened; who was it? Another tormentor, come to laugh at her expense and wait for Valkyrie to show up? Or maybe, just maybe, it was Valkyrie? And she _had_ been stupid enough to come here, to rescue Hazel?

Oh, god, she hoped not.

Hazel felt an extremely unexpected surge of relief when she saw a man who clearly _wasn't _Valkyrie enter into the room. He had wavy blond hair and was wearing huge sunglasses. He looked at Hazel and grinned broadly; he had ridiculously pearly white teeth.

Hazel recognised him. Of course she did- he was the one who brought her here. He'd emerged right from the ground in Hazel's room in the middle of the night and then sunk back down, bringing Hazel with him. She hadn't really been in a position to ask him how he did it, but she still wondered.

'I'm going to take a guess,' he said in a slow Southern drawl, 'and say that this is one of Cain's friends. Am I right?'

Tanith smiled at him. 'You are, honeybee.' she purred, giving him a kiss. Hazel looked away and tuned out once again. She didn't care enough to listen any more.

She missed Maddox.

She missed all her friends, of course, but Maddox most of all. She missed his comforting words, and how he was constantly reminding her to be polite when in the presence of strangers or people who she doesn't like. He was her best friend, she had to admit. She would most likely be lost without him.

'Oh, where is she?' the Southern man's whining voice distracted her.

'Tanith, for god's sake, this plan was worse than _his_.' Slash growled, shooting a look at the Texan, who raised his hands defensively.

'It _almost _worked, didn't it?' he said in a defensive tone. 'If she hadn't have escaped, we'd still have her.'

And suddenly it all clicked. _These_ were the people who captured Valkyrie- how could Hazel not have noticed? And now they were after her again, desperate to get her back in their clutches.

Hazel couldn't let that happen. Not to Valkyrie.

'And besides, how do we even know she knows where we are?' Slash continued, seeming to just be ignoring the blond Texan.

Tanith shrugged, looking almost careless- although Hazel didn't miss how she'd shifted uncomfortably when Valkyrie's escape was brought up. Suspicious, to say the least. 'She knows where my flat is. It shouldn't take her long to figure out that we're the ones who took her friend, and when she does, she'll come a running. Granted, it could take a while for that to happen.'

'It's _been_ a while, Low.' Slash said in a harsh tone. 'I don't know about you, but I don't think she's coming.'

'Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.' Tanith smirked.

Slash let out a low, threatening growl. Hazel thought he sounded more like an animal than a man- he had a rough, inhuman feel about him. It made her wonder.

They waited some more. Even Hazel was growing tired of the waiting- there was nothing for her to do except sit there, wondering if she was ever going to get free. It was getting clearer by the second that Valkyrie wasn't coming.

But then the sound of a door being burst open made Hazel jump, and it made her captors stand more alert.

'Could it be?' Tanith asked no one in particular, a slow smile curling her suddenly black lips. 'Could our little heroine have finally succumbed?'

'Yes.' a voice that sounded painfully like Valkyrie's answered from the doorway. Hazel whipped her head around desperately, hoping that it was just another person with a similar voice...

_Please_ let it be another person with a similar voice...

Hazel looked around and stared at the girl in the doorway, flanked by a skeleton and a Grand Mage, with a very large group of people behind her.

'And she's brought some back up with her.' Valkyrie Cain smiled.

****HL****

**Earlier...**

'Did they find anything?' Valkyrie asked when the Cleavers returned.

Erskine shook his head. 'They searched far and wide and still didn't find her.'

'Where can she be?' Maddox asked desperately, running a hand through his light brown hair.

'We don't know. Maddox, really, you have to get a hold of yourself and calm the hell down, okay?' Valkyrie told him in a firm tone. 'We _will _find her.'

Maddox didn't talk very much after that, but Valkyrie was sure that he was still panicking in his head. She'd always known about the close friendship between Maddox and Hazel- they needed each other. Balanced each other out. It would be like her losing Blade or Skulduggery; it would feel like a part of her was missing. She couldn't let that happen, not to Maddox. He was a part of her group, and so was Hazel.

They all needed her.

'Do you think she could have been kidnapped?' Valkyrie asked the Grand Mage, nibbling worriedly at her bottom lip. It was a habit she really needed to get rid of.

'That's a likely possibility.' Erskine admitted. 'But I assure you, our Cleavers _did_ look everywhere. If they found anything...'

'We'd know. I know, Erskine, but we need to consider every possibility. I say _we_ go out looking for her now.' Valkyrie said.

'Are you sure that's a good idea, Valkyrie?' Skulduggery asked. His hat was tipped back over his skull, the way he always wore it when he was concerned.

'We can't let anything happen to her.' Valkyrie said quietly. 'She's one of us.'

'I understand.' Skulduggery said gently.

'Where do we start?' Willow asked.

'We should split up and look everywhere, even if the Cleavers have already looked there. It's not impossible for them to miss something, you know. If any of you find anything, call me or Skulduggery and we'll come to you. If you happen to see Hazel walking around with a bag of fried breakfast, feel free to yell at her and maybe hit her over the head with something. Are we all clear?' Valkyrie said, looking around at everyone.

'Crystal.' Blade smirked, flipping a knife into the air and catching it expertly.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes at him. 'Show off.' she muttered.

'Let's go.' Maddox said.

Valkyrie twirled her staff in her hands and slid her Necromancy ring onto her finger. 'Go in pairs. I'll go with Skulduggery. Willow, you go with Erskine.' Valkyrie glanced at the Grand Mage. 'Keep her safe.' Willow rolled her eyes at this, muttering about how she wasn't a baby. Valkyrie ignored her and continued. 'Maddox, you can pair of with Hades. Blade...' Valkyrie hesitated. 'You come with me and Skulduggery. Everyone covered?'

'Let's go.' Maddox repeated, throwing a wry grin at Hades.

****HL****

'You're getting good at taking charge of things.' Skulduggery commented as he peered into the window of a small house that belonged to an elderly couple that Valkyrie used to know.

Valkyrie shot him a glance. 'Getting?'

Skulduggery shrugged. 'I'm obviously better.'

She rolled her eyes. 'I'm sure we've discussed this already- _I_, Skulduggery, am better than _you_. Not the other way around.'

'I'm four hundred years older than you.' the skeleton detective pointed out. 'Are you sure you're better?'

'Age is just a number.' Valkyrie teased. 'And besides, you're just an old man. I could kick your ass any day.'

'Guys, stop arguing.' Blade interrupted, rubbing his temple. 'We're meant to be looking for our friend.'

They both instantly sobered up. 'Sorry.' Valkyrie muttered.

Skulduggery had his façade up, and currently looked like a twenty year old man with short blond hair and dark brown eyes. The fact that he could change from looking like a skeleton to looking like a human still made Blade uncomfortable, so they all tried to ignore it as best they could, for his sake.

'We should have just made sure she was better protected.' Valkyrie said after twenty minutes of unsuccessful searching.

'No one could have predicted this, Valkyrie.' Skulduggery said.

'Yeah, don't blame yourself.' Blade added.

'I wasn't.' Valkyrie said dryly. 'But thanks for the tip.'

Blade chuckled and Skulduggery rolled his eyes.

'But seriously,' Valkyrie said, grimacing. 'I should have thought it through. I mean, did I really expect them to just sit down and accept that I got away?'

Blade paused. 'This is about those people who got you, isn't it?'

'How do you know it's them?' Skulduggery asked.

'Like I said, we could hardly expect them to back down and accept it. If she's been captured, who else could it be? Who else would care enough?'

'So you think they're trying to get to you through your friends.' Skulduggery paused. 'That... makes sense.'

'So you think I'm right?' Valkyrie asked, a ghost of a smile on her face.

'You could be.' Skulduggery admitted.

Valkyrie made an exaggerated show of being pleased. 'Finally! You can admit that I'm right about something!'

Skulduggery sighed. 'Don't get used to it. That was probably the most painful thing I've ever had to say in my life.'

'You two are like a married couple.' Blade muttered, scowling at them.

Valkyrie frowned. 'Ew. Are you forgetting the four hundred year age difference?'

'Age is just a number.' Skulduggery said mockingly.

They both laughed as they searched.

'Let's say that Hazel _has_ been kidnapped, then, by the same people who took you.' Blade said. 'Where would they be?'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'Now that, I don't know. I remember they took _me_ to some place in or near Haggard, but who knows if they've moved? They could be anywhere now.'

'We know Tanith's with them. Where would Tanith go...?' Skulduggery trailed off, as if lost in thought.

'Somewhere unpredictable.' Valkyrie answered. 'But she'd want us to be able to find them. Where could that...' the stopped mid-sentence as the idea hit her. Skulduggery seemed to reach the same conclusion at the same time, and they looked at each other with bright grins on their faces. 'Tanith's flat!' they said at the same time.

'Of course.' Valkyrie said. 'Where else would they go? That's exactly something Tanith would do.'

'Even with the Remnant in there, we should look.' Skulduggery nodded, taking out his phone.

'Whoa, whoa.' Blade put his hand up. 'Hold up. That sounds like a bit of a wild guess, doesn't it? We're really putting our faith in the kidnapper's apartment?'

'Trust me, if you knew Tanith, you'd know this.' was all Valkyrie said in explanation as Skulduggery passed his phone to her. She dialled in the number of Erskine first.

'Find something?' he asked as soon as he picked up.

'We think so. Do you remember Tanith's apartment-' she paused, '- _flat, _I mean, and where it was?'

'Yes.' he answered immediately. 'Why? You think... you think she might be there?'

'Under the assumption that Tanith took Hazel, yes, we do. It's our best bet. Meet you there as soon as possible?'

'Of course.' Erskine answered. 'Remember to tell the others.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'Duh.'

She hung up and next informed Hades and Maddox, then stopped to take a deep breath. 'Skulduggery, can you take us there in the Bentley?'

He sighed. 'Yes, if I must. She's parked outside the Sactuary- I'll go and get her.'

He walked off, whistling a tune.

Blade sidled closer to Valkyrie. 'Does he always call his car a _her_?' he whispered to Valkyrie.

She laughed. 'Unfortunately, yes. You get used to it. It's one of his many odd quirks.'

Blade eyed her. 'You and him are very close.'

'We are.' Valkyrie nodded. She looked at Blade. 'Do you have a problem with that?'

'No.' he said quickly. 'Of course not. I was just... making an observation.'

Valkyrie nodded again. 'Since I was twelve years old, we've been best friends. We'd go on cases together, train together, everything. Then, when I was sixteen...' she trailed off hesitantly.

'You left, and never saw each other again until now?' Blade guessed.

'Exactly.' Valkyrie sighed. 'It's so weird, seeing everyone again after all this time.'

'I can imagine.' Blade said distantly.

Valkyrie looked at him. 'Are you okay?' she asked, concern lacing her voice as she laid a hand on her friend's shoulder.

'Of course I am.' Blade grinned at her. Then his grin faltered and he sighed. 'I just... you know. Hazel and everything. I just can't wait to get her back.'

_If we manage to, _Valkyrie thought to herself. She barely managed to stop herself from saying the thought aloud, knowing it wouldn't help the situation if she added her own pessimism.

They fell into silence and waited until they saw the Bentley crawl to a stop beside them. The window rolled down and there was Skulduggery, his façade switched off. 'Quick, get in.' he said.

They piled into the back. Normally, Valkyrie would have gotten into the front seat with Skulduggery, but since Blade was with them... she figured it better to sit in the back with him. Skulduggery glanced back at her with his head tilted to the side, and then he sighed and turned back to the road.

He started driving at his normal fast speed, and Valkyrie recognised the road to Tanith's apartment. She'd visited many times as a teenager, when Tanith was actually still Tanith.

When they reached the apartment, Valkyrie was relieved to see Maddox, Hades, Erskine and Willow already waiting outside for them. The three of them hopped out of the Bentley and rushed over.

'So, you think they're in there.' Maddox said, gesturing to the apartment.

'We do.' Valkyrie nodded. 'Now, we need to be careful when we go in, okay? We have no idea who might be in there, if anyone is. Remember, this is only an assumption we're making. We all need to be on guard and ready for everything, okay? You all got it?'

They all nodded.

Valkyrie took a deep breath. 'Okay then. Weapons and magic at the ready. On the count of three, we bust in. One... two... _three_.'

Valkyrie kicked the door open in one powerful movement and she went inside, flanked on either side by Erskine and Skulduggery.

'Could it be?' she heard a voice that could only belong to Tanith murmur. 'Could our little heroine have finally succumbed?'

Valkyrie smiled pleasantly as she went to the doorway of the room they were in. 'Yes.' she answered. 'And she's brought some back up with her.'

**A/N: There we go. I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry that I didn't update! It feels like it's been forever, and you've been stuck on a cliffhanger for freaking two weeks now! I know, it's unacceptable! But my laptop broke, again, and I've had a play to do for the past week! So, I'm very sorry!  
>But, here we are. I hope you liked this chapter! :) Thank you for all the ah-ma-zing reviews, they really do make my day! Feel free to leave more... like I say every chapter. ;D<br>You all make me happy. Woo!  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	20. Darquesse

**Chapter 20. **

'Finally.' Tanith smirked.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Have you been waiting for me?'

'Yes, as a matter of fact.' Slash replied.

There was a pause before Valkyrie made a surprised noise. 'Oh, I'm sorry.' she repeated. 'I was waiting for one of you to say something slightly more witty than that. If none of you are clever enough, though...'

She was taunting them. She knew it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, under the circumstances, but she was angry that they'd used one of her _friends, _one of her _loved ones, _to get to her. And besides, they were outnumbered. That little fact gave Valkyrie a boost of confidence, enough that taunting Hazel's captors wasn't something she was worried about.

Slash growled. 'Enough talk. Shall we get down to business?'

Valkyrie wasn't expecting that. She was expecting a fight.

_I'm sure they're just biding their time, _she thought to herself, _waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Well, two can play at that game. _

'Business?' Valkyrie asked.

'We're going to give you one last chance.' he grinned, and Valkyrie could freely admit that it wasn't a very pretty sight to behold. 'You know what we want.'

'Ah, still keeping the element of secrecy.' Valkyrie smiled. 'Very smart. But you do know that I'll never join you of my own free will, right?'

'You can't be sure of that.' Slash smirked. 'You _are_ going to surrender to Da-'

'Say one more word and you will die.' Valkyrie growled harshly.

'Join us.' Slash said simply.

'Never.' Valkyrie spat.

'Are you sure about that?' Tanith asked innocently, and Valkyrie's attention turned on her. What she saw in front of her made her blood boil and her grip on her golden staff tighten angrily.

Tanith's sword was being held to Hazel's throat, and the teenager's shoulder-length blonde hair was being gripped tightly. Hazel's brown eyes widened in pain, but she made no noise.

She was tough. She always had been. If anyone could fight through this, it was Hazel. Valkyrie was confident of that.

'Let her go.' she demanded, her dark eyes flashing angrily.

'Come to us first, and we might consider it.' Billy-Ray Sanguine said confidently, clearly thinking that his side had the upper hand in the whole thing.

_Think again, _Valkyrie thought.

She twirled her staff in her fingers, placing a thoughtful look on her face. 'How about I say no, and you let Hazel go anyway?'

'Unlikely.'

'Damn.' Valkyrie muttered. 'I guess that was my only plan. Well, then, go ahead.'

There was a general pause in the room, before the noise came. The whole room was buzzing with protests and disagreements.

'_What_?' Maddox's voice was the loudest. 'Valkyrie, no! Don't say that!'

Tanith, Slash and Sanguine were staring at Valkyrie.

'We will do it.' Tanith warned. Her eyes showed her confusion. This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen, the way they'd been planned... her entire plan was blowing up in her face, thanks to one stubborn twenty-year old girl named Valkyrie Cain.

Valkyrie smiled to herself. 'Go on, then. I'm not stopping you. We'll just go...'

'Valkyrie.' Hazel whispered throatily, staring at her mentor with wide eyes.

The desperation in her friend's voice made Valkyrie hesitate, but she knew that there was no intention for Hazel to die. Not today. So she ignored the painful twist in her heart at Hazel's helplessness and gave her staff another twirl. 'Have a nice day. Hazel, it's been a pleasure to work with you.'

She turned round and saw Maddox start to come toward her, a furious look on his face. He was stopped by Skulduggery, who was now pulling him back and keeping him in a firm grasp. Valkyrie heard hushed whispers from the skeleton detective, and then Maddox seemed to calm down.

Valkyrie couldn't believe that one of her own had been idiotic enough to think that she'd let one of her best students die.

Idiot.

'We won't fall for that.' Slash said from behind her, but even he sounded uncertain. 'We all know you won't let one of your friends die.'

Valkyrie looked at him over her shoulder, an elegant eyebrow raised. 'Won't I?'

The next few events happened in a blur.

Slash snarled and went for Valkyrie. Her eyes widened and she moved out of the way just in time for Slash to go stumbling past her.

She rolled her eyes. 'Really, is that the best you can do?' she asked cockily. She noticed his hands curl into fists and, just as he was about to take a swing at her, she brought her staff up. It met his fist halfway and he let out a grunt of pain, withdrawing his hand.

A kick went into Valkyrie's back and, taken by surprise, she lurched forwards. She caught herself just before she fell flat on her face and rolled onto her back before jumping back to her feet in one swift movement. She faced Tanith, the one who had kicked her over.

Then the whole room burst into action. Skulduggery went for Tanith, taking his gun from his pocket and aiming at her. With a nasty grin, she turned and sprinted up the wall. Skulduggery fired once, twice, three times, but she was too fast. Each bullet went harmlessly through the wall and she was running around on the ceiling. It was impossible to get a good shot.

Maddox was locked in a struggle with Sanguine, the Texan's deadly razor sitting harmlessly on the floor as the two wrestled. Then Hades intervened, pulling Maddox back, pushing him over to where Hazel was and putting a blue shield up around them before swinging a punch at Sanguine, who yelped and toppled to the ground with blood flowing freely from his nose. Huh. Hades had always had a good right hook.

Blade was going for Slash. Letting the others fight their own battles, Valkyrie decided to help her best friend. She raised her staff in the air and swung it like a baseball bat. It hit Slash over the side of the head, and he let out a yell of pain before whirling round to glare at her.

He dodged a sharp object that flew past his head- one of Blade's knives. Valkyrie allowed herself a cry of protest when Slash whirled round again and knocked Blade over the head, hard. Blade's eyes widened as Slash hit him again, and then his eyes closed and he fell over.

Slash had knocked Blade out with just two punches.

It was then that Valkyrie realized she needed to be careful. She had surely underestimated the burly man stood on front of her.

But... he was all brawn, and no brains. She was confident of that. She just needed to be smart, and make sure no one else got hurt today.

An angry shout caused her to look at Hades, who was suddenly by them. Sanguine was unconscious on the floor in the corner.

Hades picked his brother's sleeping form from the floor and gave Valkyrie a meaningful look before dragging him off and throwing him into the protective shield that Maddox and Hazel were both in.

Slash looked at Valkyrie with a cruel grin. 'Sorry about that- he was awfully annoying.'

'Has anyone ever told you about how utterly _horrible _your accent it?' she asked, and then had to dodge another of his hits.

'You need to improve your aim. Seriously.' she mocked, then clicked her fingers together to summon a fireball. Even under the circumstances, she was trying to handle the situation without her Necromancer powers.

She threw the fireball and it singed the side of Slash's face. The flesh sizzled angrily and Slash panicked, trying to put out the flame before it spread further. He was successful, and turned to have another go at Valkyrie, but she had already moved so she was behind him.

'Over here.' she called, and then put another fireball to the back of his neck.

His reaction was the same, but this time Valkyrie stayed where she was when Slash tried to hit her. This time, his fist went flying into her stomach. Valkyrie's eyes widened as her breath left her and she doubled over, her hands folding over her tummy.

She never had gotten used to the feeling of being winded.

She felt a heavy, boot-clad foot stomp on her ankle and she cried out. She heard a crack and was sure that her ankle was now broken.

Slash sent a kick driving into her side, causing her to roll over and grit her teeth as tears sprung to her eyes.

She had to get up, get the advantage again. Get up, get up, get- _ow_. Yes, her ankle was definitely broken. Valkyrie just about rolled out of the way when Slash sent a mercilessly hard stamp right where her stomach had just been.

Looking into his eyes, Valkyrie knew that Slash's anger was uncontrollable. His eyes held an animalistic glint, his mouth in a hard, unforgiving line.

She had gone too far, and now he was too angry to see rational sense- if he didn't stop soon, if he carried on attacking her like this, he could even manage to kill Valkyrie.

Glancing around, she saw that everyone else was in no position to help her. . Hades had got a few more under his shield- Willow, Erskine (who had undoubtedly been pulled in by a desperate Willow), Hazel, Maddox, a now-awake Blade- and they were all screaming her name, looking on helplessly as Slash beat her. Skulduggery and Hades were both focused on Tanith. She frowned. She was sure she'd gone through worse than this alone- now, if only she could just _get up... _

_Get up, get up, get up- he's going to kill you if you don't get up, Valkyrie... _

It was the voice. Valkyrie's voice- except different. Twisted, dark. So, so different to the voice she used in everyday conversation.

_Let... me... out... _

Valkyrie gave in. She succumbed to the darkness, and then her eyes opened again just as quickly. Her hand flew out and she caught Slash's foot before it made contact with her skin. She twisted, and Slash fell to the floor. She felt the bones in her ankle start to heal and smiled to herself. It had been a long time since she'd felt this overwhelming power.

She leapt up to her feet and looked down at Slash with a look of disgust. 'Oh, get up.' she said, grabbing his collar and pulling him to his feet.

He growled and went for her, but she was too quick and she dodged.

She waved her staff mockingly and let out a loud laugh as she ducked under another of his punches. She flicked her wrists, causing her shadows to rise up and wrap their eager tendrils around Slash's body. He stared at them with wide eyes, and then looked at Darquesse.

'Hello, Slashy dearest.' she smirked, then paused. 'Although I do realize we've never met before- not officially, anyway. You know who I am, though, of course.'

'D... Dar...'

She pressed a finger to his lips. 'Hush now.' she tilted her head to the side and gave him a knowing smile. 'Wouldn't want anyone else to find out this little secret, would we?'

Mutely, he shook his head, staring at her in awe. 'Finally.' he said. 'I... we... we've been waiting for you.'

Darquesse sighed. 'I know. It's been annoying, really.'

Slash faltered. 'What?'

She rolled her eyes. 'Annoying. So, _so _annoying.'

Then she struck. She lashed out a kick that caught Slash in the chin, knocking his head back. It nearly went clean off- but Darquesse didn't want this man dead. Not yet. She was extremely interested in his power. It was something she'd never heard of before, the ability to track a person.

She sighed as he fell back again. He was weak, really. She gave his head another kick and he was unconscious within seconds. Darquesse contemplated entertaining herself by burning his legs off, but then decided against it when she saw the fight going on on the other side of the room- a fight between Hades Flame and her dear old friends Skulduggery Pleasant and Tanith Low.

She smirked. It had been a long time since Darquesse had spoken to Skulduggery. 'Hello.' she said softly, but she didn't need to speak any louder to be heard. Skulduggery and Tanith both froze, and Hades looked at her with confusion.

'Val?' he asked with concern. 'You... you okay? You look...' he stepped forward, but Skulduggery held him back fiercely.

'You don't want to go near her right now, Hades.' he murmured, keeping his eye sockets on Darquesse.

'Why?' Hades asked, clearly confused. Skulduggery didn't answer, but Hades didn't step forward again. He stared at Valkyrie.

'Valkyrie...' Skulduggery started, but Darquesse shook her head with a small smile.

'Guess again.' she said.

'Darquesse.'

She clapped her hands together and grinned. 'Spot on!'

'Why are you back?'

She waved her hand dismissively. 'I thought you'd be glad to see me. It's been so long, and I just felt like saying hello... maybe killing a few civilians while I'm at it.'

The others in the protective shield had stopped screaming her name. Darquesse was glad for the sudden silence in the room- it was nice to have silence.

'Aren't you glad to see me?' she asked with a pout, sauntering forwards. She reached Skulduggery and smiled at him, snaking her fingers toward his collarbone and tapping the symbols etched there twice. Waxy skin flowed over his skull. Blue eyes filled his eye sockets and wavy brown hair grew out. She looked at him with her head cocked to the side, then shook her head. She tapped the symbols again and the façade receded, leaving him with a gleaming skull once again. 'Much better.' she grinned. 'I always preferred you as a skeleton.'

Skulduggery took a step back, and suddenly his gun was trained on her. It made Darquesse chuckle. 'You want to kill me?' she tutted. 'That's hurtful, Skulduggery.'

'Darquesse.' an awed voice interrupted. Darquesse looked at Tanith Low with a raised eyebrow at the Remnant-infested girl stared at her. 'We've been waiting for-'

'You've been waiting for me, I know.' Darquesse rolled her eyes. 'I get it. You know, I much preferred you _without _that Remnant in there. You used to be so strong, so... different.' she sighed. 'Now you're just a waste of space.'

Tanith's eyes flashed, but she said nothing.

'In fact, I'm tempted to just... evacuate you.' Darquesse shrugged. 'It's everything personal.'

Darquesse raised her hand and stretched it out towards Tanith, but the blonde woman's eyes widened and she cried out. 'No!' she protested, leaning away.

'This won't hurt a bit.' Darquesse smiled a gleaming smile, and then focused her power on the remnant inside of Tanith Low. It was easy, really, easier than she'd expected. In fact, she hadn't thought that it would even work. This was just an experiment. But, to her delight, it was working perfectly. She could feel the Remnant's agony as it was pulled out of the body it was already bonded too- she felt its confusion, its distress, its pain. It thrilled her to no end.

'What the hell is going on?' Darquesse heard Hades yelling in the background. It amused her, and she let out a chuckle.

There was a dying scream from the Remnant as, with one last pull, it was taken from Tanith Low's body.

And then Darquesse felt strangely weak. Her legs buckled from under her, and she fell to the floor at the same time as Tanith did.

**A/N: Cliffhanger!  
>Don't worry, the next update will still be on Sunday. We finished school early today (Christmas holidays, YES!) and it was snowing, so I decided to pass the time by writing another chapter of admittedly my favourite story to write ever. You're welcome! ;)<br>Thank you for all the amazing reviews, and please leave more, and yada yada yada- I say the same things every chapter! :)  
>See you all on Sunday. Consider this a Christmas present!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	21. Telling Tales

**Chapter 21. **

There was a pause as everyone in the room surveyed the unconscious bodies of Valkyrie and Tanith.

It was Hades who spoke first. 'What,' he started shakily, 'the _hell _was that?'

'Honestly?' Skulduggery said faintly. 'I'm not too sure.'

'Why was Blondie calling her Darquesse? What the hell was she doing with her hand, and why is she lying unconscious on the floor?' the green-eyed twenty year old demanded.

Skulduggery hesitated. 'It's a long story. We should put them somewhere safe first.'

'Somewhere safe? What the hell do you mean, _somewhere safe_? Why do they need to be somewhere safe?' It seemed that Hades was close to hysterics. Skulduggery couldn't exactly blame him, but he found himself wishing that the boy could at least act calm in a situation like this.

He himself wasn't really having the time of his life, after all.

'Somewhere safe, as in, somewhere were they'll be secure when they wake up.' Skulduggery answered patiently, crouching onto the floor by Valkyrie's body.

Or should he be calling her Darquesse? Would she still be Darquesse when she woke up?

And what exactly _was_ she doing with her hand?

Skulduggery found that he was just as confused as Hades, if not more.

'R... right.' Hades said, taking a deep breath and then kneeling beside Skulduggery. 'Will she be okay?' he asked, his voice a mere whisper.

'Hopefully.' Skulduggery answered, shuffling away from Hades.

'What do you mean, hopefully?'

'I mean that I'm hopeful she will be okay.' Skulduggery replied. He looked at the group of people trapped in the protective shield- Erskine, Hazel, Maddox, Willow. Sanguine's unconscious form lay near it, and Slash's was a few metres away from Sanguine's.

Blood stained Tanith's once-pristine grey floor. The old Tanith, the Remnant-free Tanith, would have been furious if she woke up to a mess on her floor.

Skulduggery shook the thought away and picked Valkyrie up by the arms while Hades picked her up by the legs.

'Does Tanith have a bedroom here?' Hades asked.

'Why don't you ask her yourself?' Skulduggery suggested dryly.

'Oh, you're hilarious, Funny Bones.' Hades sneered. 'Seriously, does she?'

'Most likely, yes.'

'A straight answer. Finally. Was that so hard?' Hades muttered as they carried Valkyrie out into the room that was attached to the living room. Sure enough, there was a single cream-coloured bed in the room, and they laid Valkyrie carefully on it.

They went back and picked Tanith up in the same way, carrying her to the same place. Except this time, they laid her on the floor.

'I don't think she'll mind too much.' Skulduggery said dryly. 'Under the circumstances.'

They returned to the other room. The others were all behind the protective shield. Willow was banging against the misty blue wall, and confusion was still etched on all of their faces.

'Let them out,' Skulduggery said tiredly. 'Before they break something.'

Hades did so. He pulled the sleeve up on his arm and tapped two symbols underneath his elbow, and the protective shield retracted. Immediately, Willow, Erskine, Blade and Maddox stumbled out.

'Where is she?' Blade demanded. 'What the hell just happened?'

'How should I know?' Skulduggery shrugged like he couldn't care less.

'Why were they calling her Darquesse?' Erskine asked, his eyes wide. 'She can't... she's not... she can't be...'

'I think this is something that can only be explained by Valkyrie.' Skulduggery said calmly.

'You... you knew?' Erskine glared. 'You knew about this?'

'More or less.'

Erskine looked like he could punch something. 'How long before she wakes up?'

'How should I know?' Skulduggery repeated.

****HL****

When Valkyrie woke up, she felt weak. She let out a quiet groan and opened her eyes, only to be met with an unfamiliar sight.

Where was she?

She didn't recognise the room. There were dark red walls and glass shelves. The material of the bed she was laying on was a creamy colour.

Nope. She didn't know where she was.

And why couldn't she remember getting here?

'Skulduggery?' she croaked. 'Blade? Willow?'

No response. Valkyrie said up, wincing at the effort it took. Whatever had happened, it can't have been good.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up on shaky legs. It felt like she'd been running across the world. _O__w_. She started to walk over to the door on the other side of the room when she felt something underneath her feet that _wasn't_ the lush white carpet she'd been treading on just moments before.

She looked down and clapped a hand over her mouth to stop a shriek coming out. She'd stood on Tanith's arm.

Tanith was unconscious and lying on the floor. Her lips were not black and there were no dark veins popping out against her skin, which made Valkyrie slightly curious. Wouldn't those special Remnant features be _more _likely to come out when the body they inhabit is unconscious?

Then the memories came, and they hit Valkyrie like a ton of bricks. Her eyes widened as she recalled the events of goodness-knows-how-long ago and she fell back onto the bed, a hand to her forehead.

Well, _crap_.

She neeeded to get back to Skulduggery and Hades, tell them that she was all right.

And what of Tanith? Was _she_ all right? As far as Valkyrie knew, her little stunt as Darquesse had pulled the Remnant right out of Tanith's body.

_It was a favour, _a voice, _the _voice, whispered in her mind, _one that I'm sure will be repaid_.

Valkyrie didn't want to dignify that with a response. She felt a sudden surge of anger. She had thought _she_ was in control of her body; but clearly not. Clearly, she had less self-control than she'd previously thought, because she'd somehow allowed Darquesse to be released- and her other half was _still _here, whispering into Valkyrie's mind and making her more furious than ever.

Letting out a low snarl, Valkyrie picked up the nearest object- a desk lamp- and threw it across the room with as much force as she could muster. It hit the wall with a loud smash.

Her head fell into her hands. This was it. She'd lost all control.

The door burst open and Valkyrie looked up to see Skulduggery and the others all standing there, out of the protective shield. Skulduggery's gun was in his hand and, surprise surprise, pointed at Valkyrie.

'Don't worry, I'm me again.' she said, in a voice that was more calm than she felt.

'You could just be saying that.' Skulduggery pointed out, keeping his stance.

'True, I could.' Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'But I'm not.'

She glanced around at the others- Blade, Hades, Willow, Hazel, Maddox and Erskine. Their faces were all pale, and they were staring at her with something like apprehension written all over their faces.

Oh, no. Valkyrie must have scared the crap out of them.

'I'm so sorry.' her voice dropped to a whisper. 'I- I lost control... I didn't-'

'No need to explain.' Skulduggery said.

'You can drop your gun now.' Valkyrie said dryly.

'When I'm more certain that you're not still You-Know-Who, then I will.'

Ouch. That hurt Valkyrie. It must have shown on her face, because Skulduggery added, 'I'm sorry.'

'It's fine.' she said thickly. 'Only to be expected and all that.'

'Aha!' Skulduggery exclaimed, like he'd just discovered a new colour or something. 'See, Valkyrie Cain, the real one, would say something _far_ more insulting than that!'

'Valkyrie Cain is going to kick your ass.'

Skulduggery hesitated. 'Well, yes, I suppose that's something she'd say, but-'

'_Skulduggery._' Valkyrie said, exasperated. 'Shut up.'

'Well... she'd say that, too...'

'Skulduggery, you dolt! It's _me_.'

There was a pause. 'It's good to have you back.'

'I was gone for, like, ten minutes. At most.'

'But then you fell unconscious, you see, for three hours. Good job you woke up- it was getting uncomfortable waiting in silence for you in Tanith's living room.'

'I can see how that might be awkward.' she chuckled. Then her eyes fell on Tanith's limp form on the ground. 'Speaking of... did it work?'

'Did what work?'

'That thing I did.'

'What _thing_ did you do?'

'That _thing_.'

'Please be more specific.'

'That thing where I pulled the Remnant out of Tanith.' Valkyrie sighed.

'Why didn't you just say so?'

She grinned. 'I guess you just bring out the childish side of me. So, did it work?'

'I have no idea.' Skulduggery admitted. 'She hasn't woken up, either. In fact, I didn't know you'd even attempted that. _Did _it work?'

'I think we've just covered that.'

'Right.' he said, then he looked at the group of people behind him. 'I think there are some people waiting for an explanation.'

Valkyrie bit her lip and looked at them. 'I guess that's fair. Do you guys want to... I don't know, sit down or something?'

Silence followed.

Blade was the first to speak. 'You're not very good at this, are you?' he asked her dryly.

Relieved that the silence was broken, Valkyrie smiled. 'Admittedly, no.'

'I think we can stand. This room is... rather small.' Erskine said.

'Right. Okay. Good. Then... uh, what?' she asked uncertainly, glancing at Hades, who was staring at her with a bug-eyed expression.

'How did you do all those things before?' he asked eagerly. 'You know, that crazy stuff. And why were they calling you Darkness?'

'Darquesse.'

'Same thing.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'I was just getting to that. Shut up. Anyway... when I was sixteen, me and Skulduggery heard about this woman called Darquesse, who was going to kill the world. We had no idea who she was, but we knew we had to be careful about her. She was supposed to be pretty powerful.' Valkyrie let out a slight laugh at this. No one else did. She covered it up by clearing her throat and continued, 'Anyway, we didn't know who she was. Until one night, it came to me... in a dream. You see, one time, when I was twelve, the Book of Names- you know about that, right?' everyone nodded. 'The Book of Names fell open in front of me. I didn't exactly _read_ it, but I got to scan it. I got a glimpse of my true name... Darquesse.'

There were a few gasps. Valkyrie saw Blade tense and his gaze harden. She took a deep breath and continued.

'I was, well, terrified. More scared than I'd ever been about anything. But I didn't tell anyone- how could I? They'd probably kill me. I tried my best to stop it from happening, but nothing worked. And the whole Necromancy-and-Elemental-Dual-Power thing didn't help, either. So one day, I asked my dead Uncle Gordon if he could help me-'

Valkyrie sighed when Willow raised her hand. 'Yes, Willow?'

'Well, you just said your uncle Gordon was dead... how were you talking to him?'

'Long story short, he was an Echo Stone. A projection of his personality- like a walking ghost, except much nicer.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah. Can I continue? Good. Anyway, I asked him for help, and he told me I could get my name sealed. That means to have your true name... well, sealed. To stop other people from controlling you with it. I thought that the only way I would ever decide to kill the world was if I was being controlled, so I decided it was better than nothing. Gordon gave me the contact information of a Banshee. I called her and asked to arrange a meeting, and she accepted. We met up, she told me she'd make an appointment with a doctor who could do it, and then she left. On Christmas Day, I got another phone call from her- it was time for my appointment. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but I had to, you know? Save the world and all that. I went, and got in this carriage of dead people. It took me to a warehouse owned by a nice little doctor that we all know as Doctor Nye.'

That caused a stir. Valkyrie smiled at the reaction and continued. 'He cut me open, took my heart out, put it in a really tight vice and carved some pretty symbols on it. Then he left it their and told me he'd put it back in after supper. Well, he didn't. He told me he was going to keep me for medical research, so he could find my soul. I was dead, so- oh, for God's sake, Hades, what?'

'You were dead?'

'Did I leave that part out?' Valkyrie asked lightly. 'Well, before you have the operation, you have to die. Or it'd, you know, really hurt. I came back to life, though, obviously. Anyway. I was dead, so I couldn't exactly fight back. And my heart was in a vice, and my torso cut open. Not the best situation to be in. After a few hours, I managed to get up and try to leave with my heart in a plastic bag. But Nye stopped me. Then I remembered my Necromancy and decided to use that as a weapon. I threatened Nye, and he was scared- you know, death magic wielded by a dead person can be pretty powerful- so he told me he'd fix me up and then let me go. He did so, and I left as good as new. Better, actually, because now my name was sealed, no one could control me.'

'Let me guess,' Blade said, 'It didn't work.'

'Nope.' Valkyrie shook her head. 'All it did was make sure that I killed the world of my own accord. A few weeks later, a bunch of Remnants pretty much took control of Ireland, trying to find me so they could find a ruler in Darquesse. They wanted a free world, a dead world, in which they could roam free. They figured I- I mean, Darquesse could give them that. So, they went after me. They captured me and forced a Remnant down my throat. Yes, it got Darquesse out, but not like they wanted to- they expected the Remnant to _be_ Darquesse, and I be just a vessel. But it didn't work like that. All the Remnant did was break down a few walls, maybe taint something along the way. Everything that happened next was me- was Darquesse. I killed at least half of the Remnants. I was- I was out of control, crazy. Rabid, even. I used powers that I didn't even know existed and found strength I never thought I could possess. Then Skulduggery and Tanith came, and they told me to stop. They used words to tell me how this wasn't right, that I needed to just stop. I got tired of playing with the Remnant and let it out, and turned back into me again. But a Remnant went into Tanith, and that's where it stayed. A few days later, I decided to leave, and I ended up in California. She never came out again, until now. And... that's pretty much it.'

Silence followed.

'Wow.' Hazel said, effectively breaking the silence.

'That's... a lot to take in.' Maddox said, letting out an impressed whistle.

'And Darquesse is the crazy bitch who you saw today.' Valkyrie sighed. 'I _am_ sorry about that.'

She looked at Blade, who had started to say something, but he was interrupted by a soft moan coming from Tanith. The blonde woman's eyes fluttered and she started to stir.

She was waking up.

**A/N: Seven days until Christmas- yay!  
>Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. :) Please review, and thank you everyone who has already done so! I'm glad you liked the chapter on Thursday.<br>Ooh, another cliffie! I should stop doing those.  
>But then, it's so much fun... x) You love it really.<br>Have a good Christmas, and I'll see you next Sunday!  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	22. Welcome Back

**Chapter 22. **

Valkyrie could do nothing but stare as Tanith's eyes flickered open and she glanced around with tired eyes. The whole room, apart from her, was in motion. Skulduggery had withdrew his gun again and was pointing it at Tanith, cautious as ever. Her group were in there fighting stances. Erskine started hopping around and looking for something useful to do when his eyes settled on a shard of glass from the shattered lamp on the floor, and he picked it up and dangled is uselessly from his fingers.

Valkyrie barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Oh, what a team they all made. Then again, she couldn't criticize- she was sat there uselessly on a bed, simply watching as a potentially dangerous woman started to wake up on the floor, not metres away from her.

Tanith jumped up when she saw the crowd of people standing at the door. She looked at Skulduggery and had started to relax when she suddenly stiffened. It was probably the gun being pointed at her. It would surely be enough to unnerve anyone.

'Tanith?' Valkyrie was the first to speak, whispering the blonde woman's name like a question. Tanith whirled, and saw Valkyrie. Her eyes were wide and held nothing but confusion and fear in them.

'Val?' she croaked, then winced, probably because of how bad her voice sounded. 'Why is Skul pointing a gun at me?'

Valkyrie sighed. 'It's a long story, Tanith.'

'I- What happened?' she asked, blinking as she looked at Valkyrie like she was seeing her for the first time. 'You look _good_, Val!'

For the first time since they'd got her, Valkyrie broke out into a grin. 'I wish I could say the same for you.'

'You've really bumped up on your training, haven't you?' Tanith smiled. 'And your voice... what's with the accent?'

'You missed a lot.' Valkyrie said dryly.

'I can tell.' Tanith whistled, looking her up and down once more, then turned back to Skulduggery. 'Care to explain?' she asked.

'Are you really you?' Skulduggery asked carefully.

Tanith frowned at him. 'Last time I checked.' she said lightly.

'How can we be sure?' Erskine asked worriedly, staring at Tanith.

'Oh, hey, Erskine.' Tanith smiled. 'Will _you_ tell me what's going on?'

'I don't think I can find the words.' Erskine sighed. 'All I can tell you is that we have to make sure you're really you before we can put our guard down.'

Tanith sighed impatiently, and then her gaze landed on Valkyrie's group. 'Who are you?' she asked, cocking her head to the side confusedly.

None of them spoke. They all exchanged looks. Valkyrie, from behind Tanith, rolled her eyes at their weariness. Couldn't any of them tell that there friend was back to normal? Not even Skulduggery? Not even Erskine?

Valkyrie could tell. There was an innocence in Tanith's eyes that hadn't been there for the past four years. It was easy for her to see that this Tanith was her friend, the sister that would never hurt her.

'She's safe.' Valkyrie said softly. 'I can tell.'

'This isn't the time to put your heart before your head, Valkyrie.' Skulduggery said, his eye sockets still boring into Tanith's head. 'We need to be sure.'

Valkyrie glared at him but didn't say anything.

'Skul, just tell me!' Tanith said, a note of desperation in her voice. 'What the hell is going on? Why am I here, and why does Valkyrie look like a twenty year old woman? Why is she speaking American? Why are you pointing a gun at me and talking about me like I'm not even here? The last thing I can remember is saving Val from those Remnants and-' she paused suddenly, and glanced back at Valkyrie with eyes that held something akin to fear. 'Val...'

Valkyrie sighed. 'That part can be explained later, I think.'

There was a pause, and then Skulduggery spoke. 'There was a Remnant. It got into you, Tanith, and it's stayed there for the past four years. We've been trying desperately to find a way to get it out, but-' he paused, to clear his throat, something which Valkyrie wasn't even sure he had to do. 'It had bonded with you. Even if it wanted to, it couldn't get out.'

Tanith made a choking noise. 'That can't be true. Please, Val, tell me he's lying. This is a joke, right? A sick joke. Is it April Fool's Day? Are you getting back at me for last year? Well, consider us even.'

'You know we wouldn't lie to you about this, Tanith.' Valkyrie said gently. 'Listen to the rest of the story.'

Skulduggery continued, 'It was only today that Valkyrie here figured out a way to get the Remnant out. As Darquesse.'

'So you _are_ Darquesse.' Tanith nodded. 'That's... that's big, Val. Why didn't you tell me?'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'I wasn't sure how you'd take it. It's not something that you can just blurt out, is it?'

'I guess.' Tanith frowned. 'How did you do it?'

'Do what?' Valkyrie frowned.

'Get the Remnant out of me. I thought it was impossible?'

'Oh, that.' Valkyrie scratched the back of her neck. 'Well, I kind of just stuck my hand out and focused on the Remnant and- well, to be honest, I'm not too sure. It just happened when I was Darquesse.'

'So you've been Darquesse recently?'

'Yep. Today.' Valkyrie paused, pursing her lips. 'For the first time in four years. And here was me, thinking that I was setting a new record or something.'

Tanith frowned. 'This is all- wow. Freaky.'

Valkyrie laughed. 'Isn't it? Anyway, you're all Remnant-free now.'

'We don't know that.' Skulduggery interrupted in a tight voice.

Tanith sighed and looked at him. 'I kind of am. I'd know if there was a Remnant in me, wouldn't I?'

Without warning, Skulduggery flicked his wrist and the gun was flying towards Tanith. Her eyes widened and, with an angry cry of protest, she ducked in one swift movement. Valkyrie had to fall back so she was lying on the bed in order to dodge the weapon that flew over her head.

'What the hell?' Tanith said angrily, getting to her feet.

'What was that for?' Valkyrie demanded, propping herself back up into a sitting position.

'Aren't you going to fight back?' Skulduggery asked, a note of confusion in his voice as his head cocked to the side.

'Should I?' Tanith asked bewilderedly.

'I...' Skulduggery hesitated. 'Okay, so I'll accept, there might not be a Remnant in you, after all.' he admitted.

Valkyrie gave him a huge smile. 'See? I was right!'

He grumbled something unintelligible and folded his arms. 'It's good to have you back, Tanith.'

Tanith nodded. 'It's good to be back, even though I have no memory of ever being gone.'

'I'm afraid we haven't met.' Hades said, flashing Tanith a charming smile. 'My name is Hades Flame. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tanith.'

Tanith blinked, then rolled her eyes and looked at Valkyrie. 'Oh, god. He reminds me of Fletcher. Speaking of him... where is he?'

'Back at the Sanctuary, I assume.' Valkyrie said, shooting Hades a glare. He responded with a miserable look that his flirting had been ignored.

'And who are these people?' Tanith asked curiously, gesturing to Willow, Hades, Blade, Maddox and Hazel.

'Oh, these are some friends I met in California- which is where I've been for the past four years.'

'Why?' Tanith furrowed her brow.

Valkyrie sighed. 'It's a long story.'

'I have time.'

'Right. Well, after the Remnant inhabited you, it felt... horrible. I knew that there was no chance of getting it out. I'd lost a sister, you know? And there was the Darquesse thing- I felt _so_ guilty about that. It was all so overwhelming, so I decided to leave. I took off for California, rented an apartment and carried on with my training. Then one day I encountered these jokers, and we kind of stuck together. I trained them until we joined forces with the American Sanctuary in California and they hired a private trainer for them. From then on, I've only trained myself- well, I have helped them along the way. Their trainer isn't very good... but, yeah. Anyway. A few days ago Willow here,' Valkyrie pointed to the red-head, who gave a little wave. 'Got a call from Erskine, asking all of us to come to Ireland to work on a case. We all came, and here we are.'

Tanith nodded, then grinned. 'Cool. How was America?'

'Sunny.' Valkyrie smiled.

****HL** **

Blade watched as Tanith and Valkyrie caught up. They were all stood there, kind of awkwardly, waiting for them to be finished so they could just leave. Something stirred in his heart to see Valkyrie happier than he had seen her in a long while- and the blonde woman didn't actually seem too bad, either.

'So, anyway.' Valkyrie said loudly. 'This is Blade, Willow, Maddox, Hazel and, of course, Hades Flame.'

Tanith nodded. 'Right. Handsome, Bubbly, Mysterious, Moody and Arrogant.' she joked.

Valkyrie hit her lightly on the arm. 'Tanith, don't be rude to my friends.

'It's not rude to nickname people. It actually symbolises a friendly affection.'

'It's kind of rude to nickname people you've just met, though.'

'_Friendly affection_.'

'Tanith.'

'Fine, I'll use their real names.' Tanith grumbled playfully, grinning.

'It's good to have you back, Tanith.' Valkyrie said quietly. 'Really.'

'As heart-warming as this reunion is, I think it's about time we go. Before _they _wake up.' Skulduggery said, gesturing to the other room where Slash and Sanguine lay unconscious.

Blade nodded. 'Right.' he said, looking at Valkyrie, who got to her feet.

'Back to where?' Tanith made a face. 'The Sanctuary?'

Skulduggery nodded. 'I think you'll find that it's changed for the better since you've been gone.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Tanith asked, tilting her head to the side.

'You'll find out.' Skulduggery said mysteriously, causing them all to break out into laughter.

It made Blade smile to see that Valkyrie was laughing the loudest.

****HL** **

Tanith raised an eyebrow as she walked with the others down the grey corridors of the new Irish Sanctuary- or not so new, apparently. But it was new to her, which was fair enough.

'They could have made it a bit nicer.' she grumbled to Valkyrie, who smiled.

'That's what I said.' she chuckled.

They walked on until they reached a door with the sign, _Grand Mage_ on it.

Tanith raised an eyebrow. 'Is this where Corrival Deuce spends his time as Grand Mage now, then?'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'No. Deuce is dead, Tanith... there's a new Grand Mage.'

Deuce was dead? That was a shame. Tanith hadn't really known him well- not much at all, really- but she knew how much the man had meant to Skulduggery and Ghastly.

Ghastly. Where would she find him these days? Tanith made a mental note to ask Valkyrie later.

'So who is...?' Tanith trailed off when Erskine took a key from his pocket, stuck it in the lock in the door, and pushed it open with a grin. 'Why do you have a key to the Grand Mage's office?' she asked suspiciously.

'Because I _am_ the Grand Mage.' Erskine said with uncharacteristic smugness.

Valkyrie let out a laugh and Tanith raised both her eyebrows in surprise. '_You_?' she asked incredulously.

Erskine frowned slightly. 'Oh, thanks.' he said. 'Feels good to know you believe in me.'

'I didn't mean it like that,' she said quickly. 'I just mean... well, it was unexpected, that's all.'

'That's what they all say.' Erskine muttered, shaking his head as he went inside and took a seat behind a large desk. 'Pretty, isn't it?' he asked sarcastically, gesturing all around him.

'Maybe just a few more colours.' Tanith smiled. 'Congratulations on being Grand Mage, Erskine.'

'It's more work than it's worth.' he rolled his eyes.

'And wait until you see the new Council of Elders.' Valkyrie said excitedly.

'Will I approve?' Tanith asked.

'Definitely- or at least, you'll approve of one of them.' the young woman grinned.

'Well, that sounds promising.' Tanith muttered, a small smile on her face. 'Can we go and see?'

'Yes.' Erskine nodded. 'They'll most likely be working away now- which is what I need to be doing. Oh, and Valkyrie, Skulduggery, Blade, Hades, Willow, Maddox and Hazel. Come to me as soon as possible tomorrow- we're seriously falling behind on the case. We're about as close to solving it as we were when you arrived.'

'Well, we're a little bit closer.' Valkyrie corrected.

'Right.' Erskine rolled his eyes, then waved his hands dismissively. 'Go now.'

'See you later, Grand Mage.' Valkyrie said with a teasing wink.

Tanith had noticed how Valkyrie had changed, but also how she hadn't. She was more mature, a real woman, but also the same hilarious, cheeky, confident girl she had always been. It was different, but Tanith was sure she'd get used to it. She'd been gone for four years- she couldn't expect everything to stay exactly the same, after all.

They left the room and walked through more grey corridors until they reached another room. Tanith raised an eyebrow- _Council of Elders,_ the sign on this door read.

Skulduggery pushed the door open to reveal a room, similar to the Grand Mage's, except with a long table in the centre. Two figures were hunched over the table- one was wearing all black, her face covered by a long black veil. Tanith's eyes narrowed when she realized it would most likely be a Child of the Spider, and she shuddered. Those people had always creeped her out.

The other figure had his back to her, but she could see the bald head, covered in violent scars. The man wore a tailored waist coat over the crisp dress shirt- impeccably dressed as always.

Tanith smiled. Ghastly.

'Ghastly!' she said, relieved to see him again after the apparent four years it had been. He turned his head with a frown, and his eyes widened when he saw her.

Tanith grinned. He looked just the same as always, as she expected she herself did. Ah, the beauty of eternal youth.

'Tanith?' Ghastly asked wearily, looking bewildered and, Tanith noticed sadly, frightened.

'I'm me again.' she said softly. 'Completely me.'

'You... you... how?' he spluttered, looking like he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

Tanith couldn't exactly blame him.

She merely shrugged. 'With a little help from Valkyrie.' she gave Valkyrie a small smile, then turned expectantly back to Ghastly.

She wasn't forgetting how, before they'd split up to get rid of the Remnants, she'd agreed to go on a date with Ghastly. And kissed him. And apparently, Ghastly wasn't forgetting it, either. He stared at her, and she stared at him.

And then they were hugging. Ghastly's strong arms were around her, and hers were around his neck, and then Ghastly had pulled back and was planting a kiss on her lips. She responded enthusiastically.

The moment was perfect.

Oh, yes. Tanith was glad to be back.

**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY LOVELY READERS!  
>I wasn't going to admit, I'll be honest. But, I thought, 'Where's my Christmas Spirit?', and this chapter was born!<br>And then I was going to give you a nasty little cliffhanger, but it's Christmas Eve! I couldn't do that! And besides... I couldn't think of anything bad after so much awful fluff buzzing around. ;) Enjoy the happiness!  
>Thank you for reading, reviewing, favouriting, alerting and being alive, and have a very merry Christmas! :D<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	23. I Like Steak

**Chapter 23. **

'I think it's best that we don't actually tell Tanith about the things she did while she was possessed.' Ghastly said in a low voice, looking over at Tanith, who was practising with her sword against a rather cut-up training dummy in the yard outside the Sanctuary. 'You know, in case she gets upset.'

Valkyrie nodded. 'I was thinking that, too.'

Skulduggery made a disapproving sound. 'She wouldn't like us lying to her, Ghastly, you know that. And what if she _needs_ to know?'

Ghastly frowned. 'Why would she _need_ to know?'

'Maybe it'll prove to be important in the future.'

'Well, for _now_, I say we roll with it.' Valkyrie said firmly.

'Roll with it?' Skulduggery questioned lightly.

'It's a phrase.' Valkyrie rolled her eyes playfully. 'If you'll excuse me, I'm going to find Hazel. I'd like to talk to her.'

'Tell her I hope she's okay.' Ghastly said sincerely.

'I will.' Valkyrie nodded, then walked away over to Hazel, who was laughing with Willow and Maddox.

'Hi.' she greeted with a smile. She looked at Willow and Maddox and hesitantly added, 'Do you mind if we talk alone for a minute?'

'Of course.' Willow said, then tugged at Maddox's arm, pulling him away with her.

Valkyrie watched them go, then turned to Hazel. 'What did they do to you?'

'They didn't do anything.' Hazel answered with a small smile. 'How many people am I going to have to tell today? I'm fine, really.'

'I think we both know that's not true.' Valkyrie said quietly, and the smile faded from Hazel's face. The younger girl looked away, a dark look passing over her face.

'They cut me. Well, _she_ cut me.' Hazel looked over her shoulder at Tanith, who was now slashing away at the air, having reduced the training dummy to scraps of material. 'Noth8ing big, but... ow.'

'Hey, hey. Look at me.' Valkyrie ordered, frowning. 'Tanith didn't do those things to you, okay? I know that's what it seems like, what it feels like. But it _was not_ Tanith. It was the Remnant.'

'I know, I just... it's hard to tell the difference.' Hazel muttered, looking down. Her fringe fell over her eyes, and Valkyrie was reminded of the young, shy girl who Hazel was when the two had first met.

'I'm sorry. I know how it is. Just... please. I don't want Tanith to get upset because some girl who, as far as she knows, she's never met before hates her. Okay?'

'I got it.' Hazel sighed, and looked up with another brave smile. 'Anything else?'

'Have a nice day, Hazel.' Valkyrie grinned widely. 'And... enjoy your time with Maddox.'

Hazel's eyes widened and she blushed. 'I-'

'Don't worry, I know how it is. I think you make a cute couple.' Valkyrie winked and then walked away, heading back inside the Sanctuary and up to her room.

It had been a long day- all the stuff with Darquesse and Tanith felt like it had happened days ago, and yet it had only been hours. Valkyrie was tired. She took off her jacket, kicked off her shoes and lay down on her bed.

She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

****HL****

'Whoa, whoa.' Ghastly exclaimed, ducking under the sword that went flying harmlessly over his head.

Tanith's eyes widened. 'Sorry.' she said, extending a hand. Ghastly, feeling rather protective of his ego, ignored it and pulled himself up to his feet.

'What have I ever done to you?' he joked.

Tanith grinned and took her hand back. 'You know,' she said. 'You never did take me out to dinner.'

'We haven't been in contact that much over the past four years.' Ghastly replied dryly.

Tanith rolled her eyes, and a beautiful smile spread across her face. 'Well, how about tonight?'

'You mean dinner?' Ghastly asked, suddenly feeling nervous. He'd never been too confident in the women department, but he had enough experience to know that certain women at least liked the flustered schoolboy type.

He had a feeling Tanith wouldn't, though, so he ignored his racing heart and kept his expression neutral.

'Well, yes.' Tanith said. 'Unless you had plans or anything. I mean, I-'

'No, no!' Ghastly blurted. 'I'd love to! Have dinner with you, I mean. Unless _you_ have plans, but I assume you don't, since you're the one who brought it up...' he sighed, inwardly cursing his awkwardness. 'What I'm saying is, I would like to invite you to have dinner tonight, Tanith. With me.'

'I would love to, Ghastly.' Tanith replied, planting a quick kiss on his lips and tucking her sword into her belt. 'Where?'

'Well...' Ghastly stammered. 'How about at the shop? It's not fancy or anything- in fact, it's probably a bit too messy. But there's a decent kitchen there, and I can cook, I think. Do you still like steak?'

'Yes.' Tanith chuckled, seeming more amused than anything. 'That sounds perfect. Stop worrying so much- it's not the food that I care about, it's the company. I'll see you in an hour, eh?'

'Wonderful.' Ghastly said quietly, staring after her retreating form. 'Absolutely perfect... this woman is going to kill me.'

****HL** **

Scapegrace jumped as he heard the sound of glass shattering. He closed his eyes, but they slowly opened again when he heard a booming laugh. Billy-Ray Sanguine seemed to find Scapegrace's terror incredibly amusing, which made Scapegrace feel slightly unhappy.

'He'll calm down.' Sanguine sighed upon hearing the crash of something hard hitting a wall. 'Eventually.'

Despite his seemingly cheerful mood, Scapegrace had a feeling that Sanguine himself was a bit depressed. Since Tanith had left them, no one had been in particularly good moods- Sanguine had seemed heartbroken, Stephanie had been emotionless as a brick, and Slash was absolutely furious. And, being the ever loyal and faithful servant to his Master, Scapegrace was unhappy that Slash was unhappy.

Unhappy, of course, being an understatement. Slash had spent the past two hours trashing Tanith's living room, and Scapegrace had spent an equal amount of time wallowing around in Tanith's bedroom with Stephanie and Sanguine.

It was, in fact, a good hour more before Slash calmed down enough to stop trashing Tanith's flat and come out to speak to them.

'As you already know,' he began in a rough voice that was presumably worn out from so much screaming and cursing. 'Our good friend Tanith was taken from us today. The Remnant was taken out of her, too- if you care to look, you'll see the little dead thing on the floor in the living room.'

Somehow, Scapegrace doubted much of the living room was still standing. He certainly wasn't feeling brave enough to go and look, just in case something fell down on him, effectively ending his un-life.

'But no matter.' Slash continued, looking at them all. 'We _will _continue to find Darquesse, and we _will _be successful in bringing her out. You may not think so, but today _was_ a success in its own right- we managed to lure Darquesse out, if only to see her for a few minutes.'

A dark look passed over Slash's face as he said this, making Scapegrace confused. From what his Master had told him- which, admittedly, wasn't very much- he had managed to lure Darquesse out of the Cain girl and she had left him forgotten, and very much conscious- Slash had pressed this point a rather suspicious number of times- in a corner. He had managed to crawl out before the real destruction started.

'Speaking of which, how _did_ you manage that?' Stephanie asked curiously.

This served to unnerve Scapegrace. He still wasn't used to the idea of a reflection actually having real feelings and emotions. It just wasn't... right. It wasn't natural, and it certainly wasn't normal.

But Scapegrace wisely kept his mouth shut. After all, his only purpose here was to serve his Master, and he wouldn't be doing a very good job of that if he just insulted the company he kept.

**A/N: OH MA GAWD, I just realized- Stephanie, Sanguine, Scapegrace and Slash. See a pattern there? The four S's! Oh em gee, that is ****so**** what I am going to refer to that group as now. Take that, Slash Furious!  
>Anyway. Moving on from my hyper ramblings (maybe that can of Red Bull was a bad idea.). :D I hope you liked the chapter, despite its shortness that can only be described as 'horrific' and 'completely unjustified'.<br>Honestly? I was distracted by Skyrim... I'll make up for it next week, I swear.  
>Anyway. Did everyone have a good Christmas? I know I did! ;D<br>Anyway, this A/N has gone on far too long already. Moving on again. Thank you for the reviews and various other forms of support- 94 reviews, yay! :D Can we make it to a hundred? The next chapter (or the chapter after that- this depending, of course, on how many reviews I get, right?) will be dedicated to my hundredth reviewer.  
>Yay for that!<br>Oh, and just asking a little something- I was thinking of changing my author's name. I'm getting tired of people calling me Alisa. IT IS NOT MY REAL NAME, OKAY? x) I was thinking something dorky like, HeatherTheWriter or shiz like that. -_- I'm not a genius, okay? So. Suggestions? Should I change it at all? Will these questions ever be answered? Are you even reading this? Will the world really end in 2012? O.O AAAAHHHH!  
>Okay, so. For the third time, we shall move on. :) See you all next week, when I may be slightly <strong>**less**** happy, because we will be back in school.  
>But hey ho. Happy 2012, guys!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	24. Killing Spree

**Chapter 24. **

**A/N: Before I start... this chapter is dedicated to the wonderful ****Skiehr'Kaeur****, for being my 100****th**** reviewer! Woo! And also... Skyrim. ;D It's so good, right? I'm a Breton!  
>Anyway! That's a conversation to be had elsewhere, me thinks... Enjoy the chapter. :) <strong>

'_Let me out... let me out... let... me... out..._'

Valkyrie's eyes flew open. Her eyes darted around the room and she licked her dry lips, sighing in relief when she realised that she was still in her room at the Sanctuary. She was safe. Everyone was safe...

And, more importantly, Darquesse's presence was nowhere to be found in her mind.

These dreams were getting out of control. Every night, it got worse. Or perhaps it was just this night's particular dream, the dream about torture and murder and gore. Perhaps it was just down to the fact that Darquesse was on her mind even more than usual after she had been actually freed, for the first time in so, so long.

Valkyrie had the feeling that she wasn't going to be getting much more sleep that night, so she swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up. She glanced at the alarm clock she'd put on her bedside table- it was 3 in the morning.

She let out a groan as she stretched and straightened out the crinkled tank top she had been sleeping in. It was dark out, and Valkyrie smiled as she saw the stars that dotted the sky. It was a clear night- strange, after a day with such poor weather.

She left her room, peering down the darkened hallway and padding through it. She didn't care that she was so tired. She didn't care that she was wearing shorts and a tank top as pyjamas. She didn't care that she was cold, that her clothes offered her no protection whatsoever. In fact, Valkyrie didn't even know why she was leaving the Sanctuary at all. The thought crossed her mind just as she walked out of the large double doors of the huge building, but she didn't stop, didn't turn back. She kept on walking, her bare feet sloshing through the puddles on the ground. The cool night air hit her from all sides, and she shivered. Her dark hair whipped around her face as she stopped walking and just... stood there.

Valkyrie's eyes closed as she recalled Darquesse's voice- _her own voice_- from her dream. _Let me out. _

_Let me out. _

_Let... _

_Me... _

_Out... _

Darquesse opened her eyes, and a smile spread across her face.

Oh, it felt good to be free again.

****HL** **

Darquesse laughed as the sorcerer whose name she did not recall fell to his knees. He had a mess of blonde hair on his head, and wide blue eyes that stared at her. His expression was a mixture of fear and awe, and it made Darquesse smile.

'Please,' he whispered. 'Please don't kill me.'

'Why ever not?' Darquesse purred, smiling oh-so-sweetly down at him.

He didn't answer; Darquesse saw him swallow hard and he closed his eyes, muttering something that sounded remarkably like a prayer. She sighed. People and their petty faith. Didn't they realize that faith, in the long-term, was _useless_? Whether it be to her ancestors, the Ancients, or their enemies, the Faceless Ones, or whoever it was they _did_ worship, even if it was Darquesse herself- it was _useless_. It wouldn't help them. How could it?

'Sleep tight.' Darquesse murmured, and she flicked her wrist. The shadows took the sorcerer's head off, and his decapitated body slumped lifelessly to the ground. She left the alley they had been in and glanced around at the street she was in; she was in Haggard.

She smirked. It felt nice to be home.

She considered paying her parents and little sister a visit, but decided against it.

_Later_, she thought to herself.

The only people on the streets were stumbling drunks and homeless citizens. No one really worth caring about. Darquesse realized that, if anyone who _had_ been worth caring about had been around, she would have been seen as quite odd to be walking around in skimpy pyjamas. But she didn't care- she didn't feel the harsh cold wind that seemed to be whipping her hair annoyingly at her face, and the goosebumps that prickled up against her skin were no matter to her, and neither were the opinions of Haggard's drunks.

'Hey, beautiful!' a male voice called from behind Darquesse.

Now, she wasn't being vain, but she assumed that the voice was calling to her- since, as far as she could see, there were no other females nearby. Unless the man was calling to another man.

Deciding that he most likely wasn't, Darquesse turned around. Sure enough, a reasonably attractive man in his late twenties was stood there, beer bottle still in hand, grinning at her like the fool that he most certainly was.

'Yes?' she replied, raising an eyebrow. Inside, she was smirking. He would be her next kill- oh, how she would enjoy his screams...

'What are you doing wondering around the streets at this time of night wearing that?' he grinned lecherously at her, and she felt her stare shift into a glare, and her eyes narrowed calculatingly.

The man was disgusting. Not physically, but inside. He was a disgusting man. It would be a pleasure to kill him- the sooner the better, as far as Darquesse was concerned.

'Why don't you follow me and find out?' she called back flirtatiously, much to the man's delight. The beer bottle fell carelessly from his hand- another person willing to ruin the beauty of the world.

This was why, Darquesse realized. This was why she wanted to- was_ going to_- destroy the world.

Because of the people who inhabited it.

She turned and started to walk away, back to the alley she had just emerged from. The man followed.

As soon as they were obscured by the dark shadows, the man tried to push Darquesse up against a wall. Despite the weakness it distplayed to allow herself to be _pushed around_ by a mere _mortal_, she allowed it.

Kisses were being planted down her neck. Wet, sloppy kisses that made Darquesse's lip curl in disgust.

_The sooner, the better_.

She didn't waste time with foreplay. The shadows gathered at her command, and the man was torn apart. His head toppled to the ground, his mouth open in a silent scream, and Darquesse smiled.

The next three hours were spent this way- killing people, mortals and sorcerers alike, listening when they screamed and watching as they begged.

It was fun while it lasted, but soon enough Darquesse got bored. The screams weren't enough, the begging wasn't enough. It had all grown so... tiresome.

She sighed and closed her eyes, allowed her other self to surface- it was time for Valkyrie Cain to return.

But not for long, Darquesse vowed. No, she was only going to be napping- she _would_ surface again.

Soon. Soon.

****HL** **

'Grand Mage,' Madame Mist said, 'There's been another set of murders- in Haggard this time.'

Erskine rubbed his temple tiredly. This was not the news he needed to hear right now.

'Could you get the identities of the victims, gather the bodies and bring them here?' he asked.

Mist nodded curtly, presumably sniffy about his lack of mannerisms, and left.

Erskine sighed. He was tired. He was stressed. He was under pressure. He was shocked after the revelations of Valkyrie's true name, and relieved at the return of the real Tanith... basically, his emotions were all over the place, and he had no idea how to get them back under control.

Fifteen minutes later, Mist returned with a list of identities and causes of the latest round of deaths. Erskine frowned as he looked through it.

These were different. There were a few sorcerers, but not as many as previously- in fact, most of the murders were normal civillians, mortals. There had never been mortals on the murder list before...

Either the murderers had been feeling particularly murderous last night, or there was something else at work.

Unable to help it, Erskine's mind drifted back to Valkyrie. Darquesse. Should he still call her Valkyrie? Was she a direct threat to not just the Sanctuary, but to the world? Could she be trusted?

Could... could there have been another slip-up? Maybe there had, and it was Val- Darquesse who had killed those people.

Erskine decided not to rule that option out. It was entirely plausible, but he wouldn't point the finger just yet. He returned his attention to the list.

_Rupe Talon  
>Elemental Sorcerer<br>64 years of age  
>Physical description: Blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, 5"8, 168 pounds, shoe size 11<br>Cause of death: Decapitated _

_Mark Johnson  
>Mortal<br>27 years of age  
>Physical description: Brown-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned, 6"2, 178 pounds, shoe size 9<br>Cause of death: Torn apart _

_Candice Graham  
>Mortal<br>34 years of age  
>Physical description: Blonde, green-eyed,medium-skinned, 5"4, 146 pounds, shoe size 6<br>Cause of death: Strangled_

_Quill Berserk  
>Adept<br>132 years of age  
>Physical description: Black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned, 5"9, 182 pounds, shoe size 12<br>Cause of death: Burned to death_

The deaths got more disturbing as Erskine moved on down the list. There were seventeen deaths in total: nine male, eight female. There didn't look to be any particular discriminations.

'Thank you.' Erskine said to Mist, who he realized was still standing there.

She nodded again and turned to leave, but hesitated and turned round at the last second. 'You know,' she said. 'Myself and Elder Bespoke... we're your Elders. You can share everything with us, even and especially your burdens.'

The words took Erskine by surprise. His eyebrows rose. 'Thank you.' he said again.

Mist nodded and lowered her veil over her face again before leaving.

_Well, _Erskine thought to himself, _that was a little strange. _

****HL** **

Valkyrie felt terrible.

She lay on her bed, having returned from her reign of terror on Haggard, and stared at the ceiling.

She'd been weak. She'd allowed Darquesse out- _again_. The thought made her want to scream. Why had she done that? Why had she left the Sanctuary? Undoubtedly, that had been Darquesse influencing her mind- Valkyrie must have been too tired to actually feel it.

God _damn_ it!

How many people had she killed tonight? Fifteen? Twenty? Somewhere in between, or maybe more?

The urge to scream got stronger, so Valkyrie turned her face into her pillow and did just that. She screamed into the pillow until a burn started in her throat and her lungs thirsted for air. It was then that she realized that tears were running freely down her face, so she wiped them away frustratedly.

Valkyrie didn't cry. She _ never_ cried. Crying was a weak sentiment that she never usually displayed. She prided herself on her inner strength as well as her outer. Where was it now?

No, she couldn't lose control of her emotions. Not again, not for the second time this night. She would get out of bed in half an hour and wake up her friends, and act like nothing was wrong, pretend that she _hadn't_ gone on an early-morning murder spree not three hours ago.

The half-hour passed like a blur, and soon enough Valkyrie found herself putting on a pair of jeans, a tight-fitting, long-sleeved t-shirt and her magic boots. She made a mental note to pay Ghastly a visit later and check on how her new clothes were coming along.

With a sigh, she left her room and knocked loudly on Blade's door. It swung open a few minutes later, and a bleary-eyed Blade peered out at her.

'Get some clothes on.' she said, noticing that he was wearing just a pair of pyjama pants. She hastily looked away, and grinned when she saw he was blushing as he nodded and shut the door.

She did the same for the others, and was thankful to see that each and every member of her group were present.

Surprisingly, no one was particularly weary of Valkyrie. She had expected them to be, after they learned about her role as killer-of-the-world.

When she asked Willow about it, the younger girl just smiled. 'We trust you, you know.' she had informed Valkyrie. 'We know you wouldn't hurt us- and you explained it pretty well. Until the time comes- if it does- for you to go all maniac on us, we're your friends.'

That took Valkyrie by surprise, so much so that she felt a lump form in her throat. 'Thank you.' she said quietly, the guilt about last night building up in her gut even more.

'How are you feeling?' Blade asked her as made their way to Erskine's office.

'Fine.' Valkyrie said, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. 'How about you?'

'I'm fine, but you aren't.' she opened her mouth to protest, but Blade interrupted. 'You're my best friend, Val. I know when you're lying, and I know when you're upset.'

Valkyrie sighed. She should have known that there was no fooling Blade. 'I'm just... you know. Tired and stuff. Emotionally drained.'

'You're worried about something.' he observed, looking at her closely.

'Blade...'

'And.. guilty?'

'You were always good at reading my emotions.' Valkyrie said quietly, turning to look at him fully. 'Don't worry about it, Blade. Everything will be okay.'

That was a lie. Valkyrie had no intention of those words ever being true, but they seemed enough for the ever-suspicious Blade.

'If you say so.' he said doubtfully.

'Did you get much sleep last night?' she asked, handily changing the subject.

Blade rolled his fantastic green eyes. 'No more than usual.'

'So that means no.'

'Basically, yeah.'

Valkyrie frowned, letting her concern show. 'You need sleep too, you know. You may be magic, but you're not immortal.'

'I kind of am.'

'You're kind of not.' Valkyrie corrected with a sly grin. 'You may not age after you reach the surge, but you can still die. Did you know that exhaustion is one of the most common forms of deaths for sorcerers all over the world.'

'Is it?'

'No.'

They both laughed.

'But really,' Valkyrie said, 'you might have insomnia.'

'Val, I'm fine.' Blade chuckled. 'Really.'

They looked at each other for a moment, before Valkyrie looked away. 'If you say so.' she echoed his earlier words.

Valkyrie rubbed her neck, and froze when she recalled the morning's events.

The man whose name she did not ask. The one who she had taken so much pleasure in killing, even if she didn't get to hear his screams, to see his pain. He had kissed her neck. Her hand dropped back to her side before she could blink, her lip involuntarily curling at the memory. Whether she'd been Darquesse when she'd done it or not, she still didn't particularly like the man.

'You okay?' Blade asked her with a frown.

'Fine.' she responded dully, looking down.

She didn't regret it, she realized. She didn't regret killing that man.

Oh, what was _wrong_ with her? She had killed a man, a mortal, in cold blood! And she didn't even regret it?

_Our feelings are the same, _the voice in her mind whispered.

_Shut up, _she thought back bitterly.

**A/N: Before I say anything else, can I please excitedly point out that it is my birthday in eleven days? No? Well, I am anyway. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY IN ELEVEN DAYS, WOO!  
>… Aaaaanyway, moving swiftly on. :) Hope you liked the chapter! I made it longer (5 pages anyone?) to compensate for last week's midget of a chapter...<br>Darquesse is back. Kudos to her. As I was writing this chapter, a multitude of- in my opinion- rather good ideas hit me about the direction of this story. I am now faced with a decision of what path the story will take from here... -_- I HATE CONFLICT!  
>So, please review, thank you for already doing so, thank you for so far giving me ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS (yay.), and so on. Thank you for adding me to your favourites and alerts, and thank you for being alive.<br>Did I cover everything? ;)  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo <strong>


	25. Evil Bunnies and Unicorns

**Chapter 25. **

'There's been more murders.' Erskine announced to the group, which consisted of Blade, Hades, Willow, Maddox, Hazel, Skulduggery, Ghastly, Mist and Valkyrie herself. 'Just last night, actually. Gruesome as usual, except... different. There were mortals killed, too. Innocent civilians.'

Valkyrie shifted uncomfortably, unable to prevent the movement. Guilt hit her from all sides. Thankfully, no one seemed to pick up on this- all eyes were fixed firmly on Erskine.

Valkyrie chose to _ignore_ the horror in all of those eyes.

'Why would whoever-it-was kill _normal people_?' Willow asked, clearly aghast.

'We don't know.' Erskine admitted, and then his eyes flickered, just for the slightest moment, towards Valkyrie. It was just for a second, but it was enough. Valkyrie suddenly knew something which disturbed her even more than the knowledge that she had done all those awful things last night.

Erskine suspected her.

He couldn't actually _know_, of course. He'd have to be a genius to figure it out so quickly, and, no offence to Erskine or anything, but he certainly _wasn't _a genius.

So Valkyrie would have to be careful. She would have to be _very_ careful, to not let Darquesse out again.

'Maybe they were in a bad mood?' Valkyrie suggested dryly.

'I suspect Necromancers.' Skulduggery said.

Valkyrie frowned at him. 'Excuse me?'

'I didn't say I suspected _you_.'

'I wasn't suggesting that you was. You suspect Necromancers? Why?'

'To be honest, this sounds like something they'd do.'

'They're not all sadistic murderers.'

'Correct. But _most_ of them are.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

'It couldn't have been _all_ Necromancers, though, unless they had some matches spare. Some of the victims were burned, some of them suffocated.'

'Maybe they _did_ have matches.' Skulduggery said. 'Or a lighter. Or a bonfire, or some firewood... or a magnifying glass.'

'Or maybe they had an Elemental at hand.' Hades suggested.

'Plausible idea.' Erskine nodded. 'Very plausible, in fact.' he looked at Hades in mild surprise. 'How did you come up with that?'

Hades scowled. 'I'm not stupid, you know.'

'No, you're not.' Valkyrie smiled at him. 'You just lack common sense a lot of the time.'

_They're all stupid, _the voice in Valkyrie's head mused, _the evidence is right here in front of them, and yet, they still don't figure it out. They'd do anything to believe that we're a good person through and through... _

_I am a good person. And stop saying we when you're referring to me. _

_We are the same person. _

_Stop talking to me. _

_Stop replying to me..._

Valkyrie decided to ignore the voice from then on. Having a conversation with Darquesse's voice inside her head? Yeah, not a good sign.

'Has there been any word on the Necromancers recently?' Valkyrie asked curiously.

Erskine shook his head and sighed. 'Another suspicious thing. Ever since you, their precious potential Death Bringer, left, their heads have regained their spots in the sand.'

'Wait, back up.' Blade said with a frown, looking at Valkyrie. 'Did he just call you a potential Death Bringer? What the hell does that mean?'

'It means they think- or _used_ to think- that I'm the one who'll save the world.' she chuckled. 'Ironic, isn't it?'

'How so?' Maddox asked.

Valkyrie sighed, crossing her arms. 'Long story short, they thought I was going to bring about the Passage. No, I don't know what it is either, we never really found out.' she paused. 'I would like very much to find out, though. Maybe I should pay the Necromancy Temple a visit soon. What do you say, Skulduggery? We could pay our old friend Tenny a visit?'

'As long as we get to kick him in the face. That would be a nice thing to have happen.'

'I'm sure there will be some form of kicking involved.'

'I was planning to send you there anyway, Valkyrie.' Erskine admitted, looking at her. 'You know, to investigate. It's not a bad idea to suggest that Necromancers could be involved... it certainly looks like it, with a lot of these deaths.'

'Right.' Valkyrie nodded. She looked at everyone else. 'Anyone want to join me?'

No one spoke up. Valkyrie frowned, looking disapprovingly at Skulduggery. 'Not even you?'

'I despise each and every person in that temple. Sorry, Valkyrie, but I'd rather not bother myself with their ways right now.'

'Seriously? You're abandoning me because you don't like them?'

'Yes.'

'You're a terrible person.'

'So I've been told.'

Valkyrie sighed again. 'Fine, I'll go.' she gave everyone menacing looks, Blade and Skulduggery in particular. She had expected at least _one_ of them to go with her. 'On my own.'

'Have fun!' Blade grinned.

Valkyrie scowled.

****HL** **

She couldn't believe this. She was being ordered to sneak around the Necromancy Temple looking for information, and all she was wearing was a pair of jeans and a very thin shirt. Of course, she had her boots, and she had the black cloak that was very much required if you wanted to blend in around here, but that was it. No protection. Zilch, Nada, nothing.

Valkyrie tightened the hood of the cloak around her head, her eyes darting uneasily around the familiar temple. Where to look first? Where could she find whatever the hell she was looking for?

It would be helpful if she knew her objective, too. Proof. That's what she'd been asked to find.

_Proof of freaking what? _

Well, she kind of knew. Proof that Necromancers were involved with the murders- and it was something Valkyrie was sure she wouldn't find. At least, not regarding the previous night's murders- they were all her. So here she was, clueless and defenceless. She was grateful for the shadow that the hood cast over her face.

High Priest Tenebrae's office. That was where she'd look first, she decided. She walked quickly through the darkened hallways of a place somehow even more drab than the Sanctuary.

She pushed the big wooden doors open, and was mildly surprised to find that they weren't even locked. She held back a snort. They weren't very good on security around here, were they?

Valkyrie looked around to make sure she wasn't being watched before she entered the large office of High Priest Tenebrae. There were shelves, bookshelves, cupboards and a desk slap-bang in the centre.

Valkyrie started with the bookshelves.

She went through each and every book, whether it be bound in leather or paper or anything else, and when she found nothing, she was incredibly frustrated. Well, that was a waste of time.

She moved on to one of the shelves attached to the wall, the one furthest away from the door. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at the things it held. They all looked like they held some value. There was a beautiful diadem decorated with shining black gems, a ring with a giant blue stone, and a chain with the thickness of rope holding a deep red stone- ruby, or garnet maybe?- at the end. For a moment, Valkyrie considered taking them- but she couldn't, she begrudgingly admitted to herself.

Tenebrae might notice their absence and suspect something.

Sighing, she moved on, intending to search the big desk in the middle of the room, only to freeze in place as she heard the door handle being twisted open.

Cursing inwardly, Valkyrie ducked under the desk before she could even blink. The hood of the cloak tightened even further around her head as she clutched it in a death grip.

Valkyrie heard the door swing open and saw a set of heavy feet come in from her position under the desk.

Tenebrae, surely. The black cloth of the robes that swung around his heavy-looking boots looked expensive- velvet, maybe, or even silk. It could only be Tenebrae.

She heard him sigh, saw his feet continue until- much to Valkyrie's immense horror- they came to a stop beside his desk chair. He was sitting at the desk that Valkyrie happened to be hiding under.

Oh, wasn't that convenient.

She had a brief moment of inner panic before she calmed herself, pressing a hand to her mouth to quiet her breathing. She just had to remain calm and quiet, make sure he didn't see or hear her... she couldn't be discovered...

There was the sound of scribbling. The High Priest was... writing something, with a particularly scratchy sounding pen. Or maybe he was drawing. It made Valkyrie smile, to think of the big bad Necromancer drawing. Maybe Tenebrae wasn't bad at all- just a misunderstood man who liked to draw bunnies and unicorns in his free time, when he wasn't manipulating people's deaths.

She amused herself for a moment by wondering what he would draw. Bunnies? Unicorns? Both? Or maybe he drew bunnies and unicorns using death magic against each other. Who knew what went on inside the man's head?

The moment passed quickly, and Valkyrie returned to solemnly keeping herself unnoticed. This whole thing had been a bad, bad idea. She should have insisted that someone accompany her- she shouldn't have let Skulduggery and Blade off so easily.

Well, it was too late now. She'd have to suck it up and focus on just getting the hell out. She glanced around, and her eyes landed on a compartment of drawers right next to her head. They were attached to the desk.

Would she be able to search through them without Tenebrae noticing?

Probably not, she deduced. But what was life without a few risks?

Valkyrie shrugged to herself. She may as well continue the search while she had time to waste.

Reaching out ever-so-carefully, she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the bottom drawer, the one closest to her, and she gently pried it open. She winced and closed her eyes when a slight noise came from the movement, but if Tenebrae noticed, he didn't show it. Valkyrie continued until the drawer was open just enough for her to fit her hand inside.

She rummaged around, searching for anything useful. She felt cool metal come into contact with her fingers- sharp, sharp metal, sharp enough to cut Valkyrie's finger when it travelled the length of it. A knife? Scissors? A very sharp drawing pen? Valkyrie shrugged it off. The object was clearly not useful to her, unless the High Priest had recently used it to slit someone's throat.

She rifled round some more until her hands found a rectangular object that felt like leather- surely a book. God, Tenebrae had a lot of books. Carefully, Valkyrie lifted the book out of the drawer, keeping her eyes on the legs of Tenebrae. They were mere inches away from her; she could touch them, if she was stupid enough to do that.

She wasn't, though, so she decided to _not_ touch the Necromancer Priest's legs and instead focused on her new find. The book. It had a cover of plain brown leather. It was worn, with scratches around the edges. The book was old- maybe as old as Tenebrae himself. Was it a book? Valkyrie turned it over in her hands, examined the back. It looked exactly the same as the front. It couldn't be a proper book, then, could it? A journal of some sort.

Was Valkyrie holding High Priest Tenebrae's journal in her hands?

When she opened the first page, she got her answer. Yes, she was. The pages were yellowed, marked with neat, inky writing. Tenebrae's journal, apparently from his time in the war against Mevolent. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. He'd actually kept a journal?

Curiosity took over, and Valkyrie flipped through the pages. She turned back to the first page and read it- it was nothing interesting. The read the second page, then the third, then the fourth, and so on until she reached the thirteenth page. There was different time gaps between each entry- some were as long as two years, some were as few as a day.

Just as she was getting bored and about to put the journal back, Valkyrie caught a name in the text of the fourteenth page.

Skulduggery Pleasant.

Why had Tenebrae been writing about Skulduggery?

Valkyrie read on after sparing one last glance at the man whose robe-clad legs were blocking her view of the rest of the room.

_Skulduggery Pleasant seems to have a somewhat divine talent for Necromancy. Just yesterday, on the battlefield, he picked up my dagger and wielded my own magic- without my permission. He used it to kill an ogre that was trying to kill me, and then he left.  
>He should have died after wielding my magic... but he didn't. Most curious indeed. He is still very much alive. I must look into this- Skulduggery Pleasant may have the power we have been searching for. <em>

So Skulduggery had had a natural aptitude for Necromancy, just like her. This was news to Valkyrie. Why hadn't Skulduggery told her about it? She read the next entry, made a few months after the ogre incident.

_I am training Nefarian Serpine in the art of Necromancy torture- he calls his particular power his red right hand. He heard about it somewhere, and has decided that he wants it. So I am giving it to him. We have had more than a few lessons now, and he has made more than clear of his hatred for Skulduggery Pleasant. He is, as I have discovered, planning to use his new-found power to torture Pleasant to death. Frankly, I cannot allow this to happen. Not after witnessing the power that Pleasant has displayed. I will alter my teachings- if the red right hand is used on Pleasant specifically, it will not be the end for him. His soul will be tied to his body. Yes, this is a smart idea- it will be put into action immediately._

Both of Valkyrie's eyebrows shot up at this. Did that mean... did that mean that _Tenebrae_ was the reason why Skulduggery was still alive today?

_Skulduggery Pleasant, I have discovered, is a very angry man. I am keeping an eye on him, and have been for a while. I know he will come to us eventually, I just know it. He has the potential, I am sure of it, and he will embrace it when the time comes. _

Valkyrie had no idea what the hell Tenebrae was talking about. She was confused. The High Priest's legs swung out suddenly, and Valkyrie had to flatten herself against the compartment of drawer in order to stop his heady boots from thudding against her face. She frowned and continued to read.

_Today came what I was waiting for. I have waited years, but finally, the time has arrived. Today he has come home. He has abandoned his old life, donned armour to disguise his form, taken a new name to hide his true identity. But it is him. I know this. Skulduggery Pleasant has left the battlefield, and Lord Vile has walked into my temple. _

Valkyrie tightened the hand clamped around her mouth in order to stop a whimper from escaping. No. No... no _way_. She felt sick. This couldn't be true... what Tenebrae was implying, it couldn't be true. Surely not. Skulduggery... he would have told her. _He would have told her_.

Wouldn't he?

It _had_ taken questioning from Skulduggery to make Valkyrie tell him about the Darquesse thing... but still. It was no excuse. After all the confessions she'd made to him, no matter how hard it had been to tell him, he would surely have confessed this to her.

Wouldn't he?

Oh, it was all just so confusing.

Valkyrie didn't put the journal back. She would keep it; show it to Skulduggery, ask him if the words in it were true.

They couldn't be true. They couldn't be true...

She let out a low, frustrated sound, and then stiffened at the same time that Tenebrae did.

Well, _crap._

**A/N: HAPPY DOUBLE UPDATE! :D  
>I couldn't resist. Oh, I do enjoy updating doubly... I hope you liked this chapter!<br>Sorry, but I wanted Val to find out. x) I had to, of course, with the way I was planning for the next few chapters to go.  
>I'm not saying anything except this; trust me, it'll be fun...<br>… Oh, screw it, I'll tell you. Darquesse vs Lord Vile, anyone?  
>:) Please review!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	26. Solomon Wreath

**Chapter 26. **

As soon as Valkyrie had left the Sanctuary, Erskine ordered Madame Mist and Ghastly out of the room and then turned to the rest of the group, brow furrowed.

'Anyone else think it was Darquesse who did those things?' he asked them all.

'I do.' Skulduggery sighed. 'She must have slipped out- who else could do all those things?'

'Then we have to stop her, don't we?' Blade asked quietly.

'Maybe it was a mistake.' Willow said quickly. 'We all know Valkyrie would never do those things, and I'll be damned if she hasn't been trying insanely hard to keep Darquesse out for all these years.'

'That may be true. But apparently, it isn't working as well as any of us would like.' Erskine said. 'All the signs are pointing to Darquesse for those murders last night.'

Skulduggery nodded slowly. 'From my experience with her, they sound like things Darquesse would do.'

'This is all so confusing.' Hades muttered, rubbing his temple.

'That it is.' Erskine agreed. 'Look, I'm sure Valkyrie never intended to let Darquesse out. But she did, anyway- if we're right, that is.'

'We might not be right.' Hazel pointed out hopefully.

'Oh, come on, Hazel, think about it.' Hades groaned. 'Valkyrie's Darquesse, this big bad evil killer-of-the-earth. The night after Darquesse comes out to get the remnant out of Tanith, there are a bunch of murders that could only really have been done by a sorcerer as multi-powerful as Darquesse. Is there really any other answer?'

'I was hoping no one would answer that.' Hazel grumbled, crossing her arms.

'The only problem is, we have no way to stop her.' Erskine sighed. Then he looked at the suddenly-silent Skulduggery with a raised eyebrow. 'You know her better than anyone, Skul. Any suggestions?'

The skeleton detective's skull swivelled towards Erskine, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with horror. 'Don't tell me _you're _using that ridiculous nickname, too!'

'What, Skul? It's short for Skulduggery. It's your own fault, for choosing such a long, easily abbreviated name.' Erskine smirked. 'Anyway, shut up and focus. Any suggestions?'

'Apart from killing her?'

'You would do that?' the question came from an appalled-looking Blade, who stared at Skulduggery as if he had never seen him before.

There was a pause before Skulduggery replied in a gentle tone, 'No. I wouldn't. But... a long time ago, she asked me to. She said that if things got out of control, I would have to promise to just kill her.'

'And let me guess- you're not one to break promises.' Maddox said sarcastically.

'I don't think killing her is an option.' Willow said, surprising pretty much everyone with the coldness in her voice. 'She's still our friend. We just... we just need to figure out a way to _stop_ this!'

'I wasn't going to kill her anyway!' Skulduggery protested. 'I would never hurt Valkyrie, you of all people should know that, Erskine. I was just repeating to you what she said.'

'That's such an... un-Valkyrie thing to say.' Blade murmured, a thoughtful look on his face.

'Are you calling me a liar?' Skulduggery asked, sounding quite offended.

'No, no.' Blade said, shaking his head. 'Just...Hades was right, for once. This _is_ confusing.'

Hades cracked a small grin. 'See? I was right.' then he paused, and frowned. 'Wait, for once?'

****HL** **

High Priest Tenebrae jumped out of his chair, which skidded backwards and thudded against the far wall.

Valkyrie cursed under her breath and stared helplessly as Tenebrae crouched down by the desk and peered under it, until his eyes landed right on her. Those dark, menacing eyes narrowed.

'You.' he said accusingly. 'How long have you been here?'

'I was just leaving.'

A shadow suddenly wrapped around Valkyrie's waist and pulled her forcefully out from under the desk, dropping her on the floor. Acting entirely upon instinct- and maybe on slight dislike for the High Priest- Valkyrie clicked her fingers together, summoning a bright, hot flame.

They both stood there for a few moments, just staring at each other, both with narrowed eyes and calculating glares.

'So,' Valkyrie said finally, effectively breaking the tense silence. 'This is a nice room you got here.'

'Cleaver!' Tenebrae shouted, his shadows suddenly lashing out again and wrapping their dark, wispy tendrils around Valkyrie's wrists and ankles. She was bound- she struggled against the dark magic, but the shadowy grips only tightened, until they were cutting quite painfully into Valkyrie's wrist. She could feel from the warm, sticky liquid that dribbled down her wrists that they were cutting into her skin.

'Let go of me,' she hissed.

Tenebrae didn't reply, and suddenly the door burst open, and in came the White Cleaver. Valkyrie's eyes widened, and she summoned her own shadows, curled a finger against her palm and watched as a small, snake-like tendril rose in the air and wrapped around Tenebrae's neck. All of her fingers curled now, and they each darted out and stabbed into the Cleaver. But it seemed that, to the incredibly-powerful White Cleaver, the shadows were merely pin-pricks against his skin. He kept moving towards her, his scythe swinging from her hand.

'Don't kill her.' was the last thing Valkyrie heard, before the Cleaver's hand reached out and hit her over the head.

****HL****

When she awoke, Valkyrie felt pain. Pain in her head, pain in her arms, pain in her legs, pain in her stomach. She felt a brief flash of fear when she looked around and didn't recognize her surroundings; for the third time since she had come back to Ireland. She had almost forgotten how dangerous the country could be- for her and Skulduggery, at least.

Then she remembered, and a grimace spread across her face. She had been _beaten... _by Tenebrae. That was, frankly, an insult to her powers. She tried to bring her arms out in front of her to check for any damage, only to find that they were shackled. Valkyrie cursed quietly.

Not again.

'Ah, you're awake.'

That voice. That familiar voice... the same that had been training Valkyrie in Necromancy, up until the moment that she decided she was leaving Ireland. Solomon Wreath.

'Wreath?' she raised an eyebrow, swivelling her head in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, her eyes landed on a good-looking man with messy hair and olive skin, a guilty smile on his face.

'Nice to see you, Valkyrie.'

'I wish I could say the same.' Valkyrie muttered.

'It's been a while, hasn't it? How are you? Where have you been?'

'California.'

'Hence the accent, of course.' Wreath grinned at her. 'You're looking well.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Oh, stop talking. Where are we? And why are you here with me?'

He sighed and turned, revealing to her his hands, which were shackled, just like hers. 'They think I helped you get inside- good job on getting caught, by the way.' he added sarcastically.

Valkyrie glared at him. 'I would have done perfectly fine if Tenebrae hadn't come back into his office for a little _tea break_.'

Wreath rolled his eyes. 'Right. Why are _you _here, anyway?'

'In the temple? Well, you know... I just thought I'd come back, for old time's sake, you know?'

'Be serious. I'm pretty sure they'll be coming back here for us any minute.'

'Right.' Valkyrie sighed. 'Actually, Erskine sent me to do a little investigation- to see if any of you Necromancers have been involved with the recent murders.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Oh? There have been murders?'

'Don't tell me you don't know about them.'

'I'm afraid I don't, and nor do any of my other _friends_... as you can probably tell, we Necromancers don't keep all too chummy with the Sanctuary. They never tell us anything.'

'There might be a reason for that.' she muttered. 'Well, there've been murders. Violent ones. Erskine and Skulduggery were thinking that Necromancers are involved.'

'Maybe they are.' Wreath shrugged, then winced.

Valkyrie frowned, concern tugging at her. 'You okay?'

'I'm fine. They roughed me up a little bit, though.'

'Diddums.'

'Don't mock me.' Wreath rolled his eyes again. 'So, how do you propose we get out of here?'

'I don't suppose you have a phone in your back pocket.'

'I'm afraid not, no. Even if I did, I doubt I'd have any numbers to dial. Don't you have a phone?'

'Not with me.'

'That's... really not helpful.'

'Well, I apologize that I left my room this morning not expecting to be captured by your bat-shit crazy High Priest.' Valkyrie spat as a lock of dark hair fell in her face. That was annoying- she couldn't even move her hands to brush it away.

There was a pause, in which neither of them even looked at each other. Then Valkyrie turned her head back towards him at the same time that he did, and their eyes met. For the first time all day, Valkyrie broke out into a genuine, real smile. Wreath grinned at her.

'Have you been continuing in your Necromancy training in America, then?'

She shrugged, flexing her ring finger, feeling the familiar cold burn of her black Necromancer ring. 'A little bit. I try to avoid having to use it in combat, but if the situation calls...'

'Huh.' Wreath raised his eyebrows. 'Why not just use it all the time?'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'I... prefer to rely on my Elemental magic. Not that my Necromancer powers aren't cool- they're great, actually, and really useful. But... I prefer to _not_ use them. For personal reasons, you understand.'

'Of course.' Wreath nodded, but the expression on his face showed Valkyrie that he didn't understand at all.

Just then, the door on the other side of the room- where _were _they, anyway? Valkyrie didn't recognise the room- swung open, and in stepped High Priest Tenebrae.

'Tenny!' Valkyrie greeted with a bright smile and cheerful voice. 'Oh, it's been so long, hasn't it? Good to see you! I have to say, you're looking great. Have you been working out?'

'Silence!' Tenebrae snapped, shooting her a glare.

'Hey, hey.' Valkyrie said in a deliberately understanding tone. 'I know our last encounter wasn't what you'd call friendly, but I still think we can work through this!'

She heard a small laugh- more like a sharp exhale of breath- come from Wreath, and Valkyrie's smile got even brighter.

'I said, silence!' Tenebrae roared. 'I will not have you return to this temple, _my_ temple, and mock me, young lady!'

'I'm not that young any more.'

'_Just be quiet_!'

Valkyrie pouted. 'But, Tenny... I thought we were friends!'

Tenebrae looked like he was about to shout something else, but then he seemed to think better of it and closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled, and his eyes opened. 'I will not satisfy you with the attention you seem to crave so much, child.'

'Again with the child thing... hel_lo_, twenty year old woman here.'

'Stop acting like a child, and you will not be treated like one.' Tenebrae spat.

'I thought you weren't satisfying me with the attention I crave?' Valkyrie asked, tilting her head to the side.

Tenebrae ignored her, and she nodded. 'There, _that's_ better.'

'Cleric Wreath,' Tenebrae said, his voice loud and clear in the quiet room, 'Why, I should have guessed that _you _would be the one to help Miss Cain here back into the temple, an act that is strictly forbidden. But then, you always have had a strange obsession with the girl...'

'I'd like to point out that I got in here with no help whatsoever... which really says something about the security in your precious temple.' Valkyrie stated, raising an eyebrow.

Tenebrae shot her a look. 'Do not attempt to lie to me. You clearly had help- I can think of no one else in this temple apart from Cleric Wreath here who likes who enough to help.'

Valkyrie frowned. 'I thought everyone liked me here?'

'Not many people like you here.' Wreath told her.

'Ouch.'

'I didn't help Valkyrie,' Wreath stated, looking at Tenebrae.

'Can you provide proof of that? An alibi, some kind of evidence?'

Wreath hesitated. 'Well, no. But isn't my word enough?'

'No.'

'That's deeply saddening.' Wreath nodded sadly. 'Then I suppose I can't prove it. But I can insist that I didn't.'

'You already have, we've made it quite clear that we don't believe you.'

Wreath started to respond, then he paused and frowned. 'We?'

'Yes, myself and-' Tenebrae's nose wrinkled, 'Cleric Craven.'

'Craven?' Valkyrie repeated in disbelief. 'Vandameer Craven?' she let out a loud, disbelieving laugh. 'He's still _alive_?'

'And why would he not be alive?' Tenebrae asked.

'Because he's an idiot. I was sure he would have, I don't know, walked into a death-ray or something now.'

'I'm sure that next time Craven comes around a death-ray, he'll walk into one.' Tenebrae said acidly. 'But for now, he is very much alive.'

'The next time Craven comes around a death-ray, I'll push him into it.' Wreath muttered. 'He's obviously lying. He's always hated me, he has. Do anything to get me kicked out of the temple.'

'Anyway, why would you be mad at either of us?' Valkyrie asked, glaring at Tenebrae. 'Just four years ago, weren't you dancing around my throne and praising me for being the Death Bringer? They were the good old days. What happened to them?'

Tenebrae looked at Wreath, who looked straight back at Tenebrae. Then they both looked at her, and Valkyrie suddenly had the feeling that they knew something she didn't, something that she was probably supposed to know.

'You mean you don't know?' Tenebrae asked. 'Word hasn't reached you yet?'

'No, I don't know.' Valkyrie said, looking at them both expectantly. 'What is it?'

'Valkyrie, the theory about the Death Bringer... it was... _disproved_, a while ago.' Wreath stated uncomfortably.

'What do you mean, disproved? What was the theory?'

'The theory, Miss Cain, was that the Death Bringer would be so powerful that he or she would be able to ignite the passage.' Tenebrae informed her, as if Valkyrie should actually _know_ what that meant.

'And... what the hell is the passage?' she asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Basically, we wanted to kill off three billion of the earth's population so the other three billion could live forever.' Wreath explained, then his mouth took on the shape of a neat _O_ as High Priest Tenebrae took Wreath's own cane and jabbed him in the ribs with it. 'Ow.' he groaned.

'Do not be so crude and blasphemous.' Tenebrae scolded, eyes flashing. 'That was not our intention.'

'Yes it was.' Wreath rasped, looking winded. '_Ow_. What did you do that for?'

'Seriously? You... you wanted _me_ to do that?' Valkyrie demanded, feeling a sudden fury in her veins. '_No!_'

'We're not asking you any more, Miss Cain.' Tenebrae said unpleasantly. 'As Cleric Wreath stated earlier, the theory was disproved, and now all is _well_.' his lip curled at the last word. Clearly, he did not think that all was well at all.

'How was it disproved?' Valkyrie asked. 'I mean, it shouldn't have been so hard to disprove _that_ kind of nonsense, should it?'

'Watch your tongue, girl!' Tenebrae snapped. 'What you would call nonsense, I would call _my faith_.'

'So you would actually sit there and pray that half of the world gets killed?' Valkyrie asked. 'Lovely.'

'This is not a conversation we are supposed to be having.' Tenebrae hissed. 'Getting back to the matter at hand. The two of you are here because you are charged with-'

'Hold on. How was it disproved?'

Tenebrae turned his head away and didn't answer.

Wreath sighed impatiently and rolled his eyes, looking uncomfortable again. 'A few months after you left, Valkyrie, we... well, we thought we'd found the Death Bringer. The real one this time.'

Valkyrie frowned. 'Who?'

'Melancholia St. Clare had displayed an... extraordinary array of Necromancer talents, talents that only someone as powerful as the Death Bringer could possess.'

'How did that happen?' Valkyrie asked doubtfully. From what she could remember of Melancholia, she was a fairly unremarkable blonde girl who was snooty and rude.

'Well, just as she was about to ignite the passage, Melancholia... well.' Wreath cleared his throat. 'She... collapsed. The power, it seemed, was too much for her. We later found out that Cleric Craven had... he had carved symbols into her, you see, to loop her power around her body to make her much more powerful than she actually was. But, as always with symbol magic, it was tricky. If just one of those symbols was, say, marred by a blade used for _harming _Melancholia, the loop would be broken and the power would leave. She was a walking phone, if you like. Charged one minute, completely out of battery the next. She fell into a deep coma after she tried to ignite the passage... and she still hasn't woken up.'

'So your theory was a load of tosh, then.' Valkyrie said.

'It was not... _tosh_.' Tenebrae spat. 'Do not speak of it like that.'

'Well, actually, after that a Necromancer in Australia revealed that the Passage most likely wouldn't have worked anyway-'

'Stop explaining it to her!' Tenebrae screeched, interrupting Wreath.

'Why? I have a right to know- it was what you were planning to have me do in the first place, wasn't it?' Valkyrie said acidly, glaring at them both. Then she looked at Tenebrae. 'I'd like to get going now. Really, it's been lovely, but-'

'You're not going anywhere.' said Tenebrae. 'You're shackled for a reason, Miss Cain. You're going to be kept here right until your Skeleton Detective comes looking for you and can bargain your release.'

'So I'm a hostage.'

'You're not a hostage.'

'You're keeping me here until Skulduggery buys me out. Hostage.'

'I prefer the term _prisoner_.'

'But I'm a hostage. You're keeping me for ransom. That, Mr Tenebrae, is very, very mean.'

Tenebrae frowned at her. 'Excuse me?'

Valkyrie used the strength in her legs to stand up, and, being the tall woman that she was, she towered over Tenebrae menacingly. 'I think,' she said venomously, 'that you're going to let me and Solomon go. We didn't do anything wrong, after all.'

'You're not going anywhere.' Tenebrae repeated, but Valkyrie had seen it. She had seen the fear that had flashed through his eyes, and it thrilled her. 'Clea-'

Valkyrie kicked out. Her kick caught Tenebrae right in the groin, and his eyes bugged out as he doubled over in pain.

'Undo the shackles! Now!' she shouted, crouching down next to him.

Out of breath, panting, Tenebrae tried to shout for the Cleavers once more. Valkyrie delivered a swift kick to his stomach, and the look of pain on the High Priest's face intensified.

'Now, please. I'm getting impatient, and I'm sure Solomon here is, too.' Valkyrie said.

Tenebrae shakily reached under his robe, sliding his hand into his boots and pulling out a tiny silver object- a key. Valkyrie smiled at him. 'Good boy,' she said praisingly, turning her back to him and extending her shackled wrists. 'Hurry now.'

There was a tiny click as the shackled unlocked and opened. Valkyrie hurriedly slid them off her wrists, and looked at Tenebrae. 'Now free Cleric Wreath, and we'll be on our way.'

Tenebrae did so, but only after Valkyrie gave him a firm knock to the head. Wreath looked disapprovingly at Valkyrie when he was freed. 'That was entirely unnecessary, you know.' he pointed out.

Valkyrie grinned. 'So? I've been wanting to do that for ages. It was fun. Come on, let's go.'

'I'm not going, Valkyrie.'

'Um, why?' she asked. 'In case you haven't noticed, you've,' Valkyrie chuckled, 'aided a Sanctuary agent in breaking into the temple. You can hardly stay, can you?'

'Where else can I go?' Wreath shrugged.

'Stay at the Sanctuary.' Valkyrie almost pleaded. 'You'll be forgiven if I tell them that you helped me.'

'But I didn't.'

'Lying is such a wonderful thing...'

'I think,' Wreath said gently, 'I will just go to my mother's house.'

'Your... your mother's house.' Valkyrie stared. 'Really?'

'Yes. A remarkable sorcerer, she is- gave it up now, of course. Tries to stay out of the way... she's an Elemental.'

'Really?' Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Not a Necromancer, then?'

'Nope.'

'Shocker.' Valkyrie smiled, and looked at Tenebrae, who was curled up on the floor in a rather undignified position, trying to get his breath back. Then she looked back at Wreath. 'Then I suppose this is goodbye, Mr Wreath.'

'I suppose it is, Miss Cain... for now. We'll see each other again, soon enough.'

'Maybe.' Valkyrie shrugged, then waved. 'Give your mother my best.'

'I'm sure she'll be thrilled.'

Valkyrie laughed, then walked over to the door, throwing her hood back over her face. She gave Wreath one last long look, then smiled to herself and left, striding through the temple halls with her head bowed and her pace quick.

She didn't get caught once.

**A/N: Can you say six pages? ;) Well, I can! Woop, woop!  
>It's my birthday on Wednesday. In joyous celebration, I gave you a long chapter. In even more joyous celebration, I'm going to update on Wednesday. I will not tell you how old I am- that will ruin the surprise. Feel free to wish me a happy birthday in a nice, shiny review. ;D<br>I hope you liked the chapter! I'm sorry if you wanted to see some Death Bringer action- I just wasn't feeling up to having to write Melancholia, I suppose. I don't like her very much. Actually, I don't like her at all.  
>Thank you for the reviews, thank you for adding the story to your favouritesalerts, thank you for reading, thank you, thank you, thank you! :)  
>See you Wednesday! (Hopefully. We all know how bad I am at keeping promises, don't we?)<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	27. Burnt Bedding

**Chapter 27. **

'Find anything?'

All Valkyrie got when she returned to the Sanctuary was that lazy drawl from Skulduggery, who barely looked at her as he said it. He had met her just at the front doors of the Sanctuary- he had seemed to be waiting for her.

She frowned at him, pulling off the cloak she hadn't previously removed. Should she still trust Skulduggery, after what she'd found out? Was that a stupid question? She'd trusted him with her life up until the moment she'd read about his being Lord Vile, just as he'd have- she liked to think- trusted her with his until he learned about Darquesse. The difference was, of course, that Skulduggery trusted her just as much after learning of her true identity as he had before. Should Valkyrie's trust really be different?

Either way, she had decided as soon as she'd escaped the temple that she wasn't going to tell him about knowing about Lord Vile, not just yet. 'Nothing really.' she said passively, throwing a glare at her former mentor. 'I just, you know, got a little _tied up_. Or should I say shackled?'

This time, Skulduggery's skull swivelled towards her. Concern laced his voice when he spoke. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard what I said.' Valkyrie said bitterly, folding her arms over her chest and easily matching Skulduggery's quick pace. 'I was searching Tenebrae's office, he caught me, I ended up shackled in a room with Solomon Wreath.'

'Are you okay?'

'Fine, thanks. Of course, it wouldn't have even happened if you'd been with me.'

Skulduggery hesitated. 'I do apologize about that. But there is a bright side.'

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Oh? Do tell me what it is.'

'I didn't have to face any Necromancers by staying over here.'

Valkyrie made a frustrated noise and stopped walking, planting her feet firmly on the ground and glaring at Skulduggery. 'You are such a... _jerk_!' she seethed, earning a few looks from other sorcerers who were passing through the halls of the Sanctuary.

A soft chuckle escaped the skull of Skulduggery, who also stopped walking and turned to look at her. 'I'm a jerk?' he sounded amused, much to Valkyrie's annoyance. 'Eloquently put.'

'You could have at least gone to check up on me!'

'I thought you weren't hurt.'

'I had to spend god-knows-how-long in the company of Wreath and Tenebrae, of course I'm hurt. I'm mentally scarred.'

'In that case, I _am _sorry, Valkyrie.'

Valkyrie turned her nose up at him and resumed walking, moving more quickly than she had been previously. This time, it was Skulduggery who had to quicken to keep up with her.

'You can't really be angry at me for this.' Skulduggery said disbelievingly.

'Why can't I?' Valkyrie demanded, tucking a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear.

'Because that would be incredibly childish of you.'

'Childish.' Valkyrie snorted. '_You're_ the childish one, Skulduggery.'

'What happened to Skul?'

'You will be called Skul when I feel you live up to the nickname.'

'That won't be hard.'

There was a pause as they both looked at each other once again. A hint of a smile flickered up on Valkyrie's face, then spreading into a broad grin. A light laugh escaped Skulduggery, and soon they were both laughing.

'I'm still mad at you.' Valkyrie warned between giggles.

Skulduggery chuckled. 'No, you're not.' he said cheerfully.

'You're right.' Valkyrie agreed, sobering up somewhat from her laughter, but still smiling. 'But I could be. You got off easy this time.'

'I know.' Skulduggery said, sounding suddenly solemn. 'Goodness knows how I'd handle the infamous wrath of Valkyrie Cain.'

'What's this about Valkyrie's wrath?' a voice came from behind them, and they both turned to find Tanith walking with Ghastly and Blade, all three smiling amusedly at them.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Did you know that it's actually very rude to listen in on people's conversations?'

'Must have slipped my mind.' Tanith grinned. Valkyrie noticed how her arm was hooked through Ghastly's- ah, they made such a cute couple.

'How was dinner last night?' she asked them, smirking slightly at the mild blush that rose up on Ghastly's scarred face and the spark of excitement that lit up in Tanith's eyes.

'Excellent.' Tanith answered, squeezing Ghastly's arm with her own.

'Yes, yes.' Ghastly mumbled. 'We had a fun time.'

Tanith frowned at him. 'You don't sound very enthusiastic.'

'Tanith, I burned the first steak and undercooked the next- actually, it was _you_ who ended up cooking it. Of course, Tanith's was perfect.' Ghastly added with an eye-roll to Valkyrie and Skulduggery. 'And then there was the showing-off. Oh, god, the showing off...'

'I did not show off!' Tanith protested, smacking Ghastly's shoulder quite hard with the hand that wasn't occupied with his arm. 'I volunteered to show you what I'd learnt, you agreed, and then... oh, right. There was a bit of showing off, yeah.'

'You nearly broke my arm.'

'Mistakes are only human.'

Ghastly grumbled something unintelligible and Valkyrie laughed. 'So you did have a fun time, then?' she grinned.

Ghastly hesitated, then another elbow in the ribs from Tanith sped up his answer. 'Yes, yes, it was absolutely wonderful. Perfect. Amazing. I can't think of any more positive adjectives to describe it.' he replied automatically.

'Good boy.' Tanith cooed.

'You've trained him well.' Valkyrie observed in mock approval.

Her and Tanith exchanged an amused look. 'I'll catch you later, yeah?' Tanith asked her. 'We can catch up. It feels like it's been ages.'

'It _has_ been ages, Tanith.' Valkyrie reminded her best friend. 'Four years, remember? Yes, I'll see you later. It'll be fun.'

Tanith nodded, and walked away with Ghastly. Valkyrie saw the blonde plant a quick kiss on the Elder's mouth before she quickly looked away, feeling like she was invading the couple's privacy. Her eyes landed on Blade, who she smiled at. He returned the smile- but Valkyrie noticed something different. The way the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, the way he seemed to be finding it difficult to keep up eye contact with her.

Her eyes narrowed. 'Something wrong, Blade?' she asked casually.

'Nothing at all.' he replied, sparing a quick glance at Skulduggery. 'Why do you ask?'

'Oh, come on, Blade. You'd be acting less suspicious if you grew a swirly moustache and started twirling it evilly between your fingers. I'm going to ask you again, Blade, is something wrong?'

Her best male friend swallowed nervously. 'I just...'

Skulduggery interrupted by clapping his hands together. 'Valkyrie, have you seen much of Fletcher today?'

Her eyes narrowed further, but Valkyrie didn't press. She simply stored away the information for later use. 'No, I haven't seen him today. Why?'

'It's just... well, you haven't been seeing a lot of him at all, have you?'

'Did he ask you to start this conversation with me?'

'I'm not going to lie- yes, yes he did.'

'And you didn't, I don't know, tell him to mind his own business?'

'That would be rather rude, wouldn't it?'

Valkyrie scoffed. 'Since when did you care about being rude to Fletcher Renn?'

'I... actually, I don't care. You're right. I'll tell him that. But really, Valkyrie, the boy has been hounding me for the past four years to get you back. Then, finally, you return, and then... you never speak again. It seems almost like all that hounding was wasted, you know? Like there were other things I could have occupied my time with. Like kicking puppies, or shooting Scapegrace, or making fun of Ghastly and Erskine's robes.'

'I see your point.' Valkyrie mumbled, realized that she had, indeed, been slightly neglectful to Fletcher lately. But it was hardly her own fault, was it? She'd been busy, and all the other times she'd avoided him had simply been for his own good, to stop her hurting him all over again. 'Maybe I'll ask him to coffee later or something.'

'Will you?'

'No.'

Skulduggery sighed and adjusted his hat, tipping it over his skull at a jaunty angle. 'If you'll excuse me.'

Valkyrie nodded a goodbye, and then turned back to Blade. 'You were saying?' she said sharply.

****HL** **

Damn. Why did she have to be so damn observant?

Blade stammered to think of an excuse for his obvious behaviour. 'I...'

He saw a flash of hurt in Valkyrie's eyes, and felt bad. He knew she didn't like him hiding things from her, just the same as he didn't like her hiding things from him. He sighed, and then the idea struck him like a bolt of brilliant lightning. 'I'm sorry, Val, I really am.'

Now Valkyrie looked alarm. 'What? Why are you sorry? What happened? What have you done?'

'I...' Blade looked down and swallowed- purely for effect, of course. But it didn't help that Valkyrie's expression was suddenly frightening.

'Blade...' Valkyrie's voice was a warning.

'Okay, okay. I... I set your bed on fire.'

Valkyrie blinked. 'What?'

'I really am sorry.' Blade said, injecting just the correct amount of misery into his voice. He'd always considered himself quite a good actor. 'I was bored after you left, so I went to explore, and ended up in your room, and then I started clicking a flame on and off, and... I didn't mean for it to happen.'

Valkyrie blinked again, and again, and then... she laughed. 'You set fire to my bed?' she giggled.

'Purely by accident.' Blade smiled a crooked smile, glad Valkyrie had so easily bought into the lie. He felt bad about lying, of course, but it was better than his best friend finding out that he and her other friends had spent a good portion of the morning plotting against her and her 'alter-ego'.

'There's no long-term damage, is there?' Valkyrie asked.

'Some minor charring.' Blade paused. 'But, to be honest, it just makes the room look better.'

Valkyrie grinned. 'I can imagine. Can I trust you to head back up to my room alone without destroying anything else?'

Blade grinned and winked. 'Maybe. Why am I going up alone?'

'Because I have to pee.' Valkyrie answered bluntly.

Blade nodded. 'Right. Have fun with that.' then he blushed. 'I don't mean- just...' he faltered. 'Shut up.'

Valkyrie held her hands up in mock defence. 'I wasn't saying anything. I will go and have fun peeing now.'

Blade flushed. 'Right.'

Valkyrie turned and walked back the way they came, and Blade started jogging back up to her room. Great. Now he'd need to _actually_ set fire to her bed in order to make it look like he'd been telling the truth. He slammed her door shut behind him and stared at the bed for a few seconds before clicking his fingers, summoning a flame. He fed it his magic until it was a large fireball, and then he dropped it onto the soft material of the bed.

It went up in flames instantly. Blade raised an eyebrow at the incredible flammability of the bed's material. Wouldn't they have at least tried to make it somewhat more... safe?

Blade waited a few seconds until he felt the bed had been punished enough. He gathered droplets of water from the moisture that lingered in the air, and then doused the fire in them. The flames were extinguished, and there was a strong odour of burning. Steam rose from the bed- basically, it was much too obvious that the burning had only just occurred.

For a few seconds, Blade started frantically moving the air around the room to try and get rid of the smoke, all the while guiding it away from the smoke detector in the centre of the room. The useless thing didn't even go off once, although Blade was relieved at that. He had just a few moments now, he predicted, until Valkyrie returned from her bathroom break.

Just as Blade had deemed his attempts as successful, Valkyrie came bursting into the room.

'Okay, all-' she started, then she froze and stared at the bed, a low whistle forming at her lips. 'Whoa. You really destroyed that poor sucker, didn't you?'

'Apologies.' Blade chuckled nervously.

Valkyrie went over to the bed and, much to Blade's dismay, ran her fingers over the burnt material. She frowned. 'It's still warm. Why is it still warm?'

'Why wouldn't it be?' Blade asked with faux innocence.

'You said that you set it on fire this morning, after I left. It's now two thirty in the afternoon- it should have cooled down by now.' those calculating chocolate eyes narrowed as they snapped over to Blade. 'Blade Koldos! Have you been _lying_ to me?'

Guilt washed over him. He should have known he wouldn't be able to fool the great Valkyrie Cain.

****HL** **

**The Previous Night. **

Tanith smiled slightly to herself as she approached Ghastly's shop. How long was it since she had been here- since the _real_ her had been here? Too long, she deduced.

She raised her hand to knock on the door of Bespoke Tailor's, but the door had swung open before her knuckles had met the firm wood. Ghastly stood there, looking uncomfortable but cute in a tailor-made suit jacket with matching pants, obviously made by himself, for himself.

But, Tanith noticed, he had his façade up. Tanith didn't like that. She liked the real Ghastly, scars and all, rather than the polished, scar-less Ghastly with the shiny bald head. She reached out wordlessly, slipping her hand under his collar, and gently tapped the two symbols that she knew where there. Instantly, the smooth skin retracted, replaced with rough, scarred skin- the skin that Tanith much preferred.

'Hello, handsome.' she smiled. 'May I come in?'

Ghastly was staring at her, his mouth open in the tiniest of _O_''s, his eyes slightly wider than normal. 'Of course.' he said in an unusually high voice, before clearing his throat and saying again, much deeper this time, 'Of course.'

Tanith suppressed a giggle and stepped into the shop, feeling slightly guilty that Ghastly had dressed up for her, and she was still in her cold, tight fighting leathers. 'Should I have worn a dress?' she asked her date, glancing around at the tailor's shop.

Ghastly shook his head quickly. 'No, no. This is just me. Being stupid. Unless you like the suit- in that case, I'm not being stupid at all... I'm going to stop talking and cook some steak now.'

This time, Tanith let her laugh out. 'Right.' she grinned, planting a gentle kiss on Ghastly's cheek. 'But maybe first you should sit me at a table or something. I might break something if I have to stand up all night.'

'Right! Right. Sorry.' Ghastly apologized awkwardly. 'Er, right this way.'

He led her into the other room of the shop, the room with the lovely round table in the centre that usually had the clutter of needles and materials on it, but tonight had been cleared and covered with a clean white tablecloth, laced at the corners. A candle sat flickering in the middle of the table. The rest of the kitchen, though, looked much the same as always- teapot sat just by the kettle, piles of finished and unfinished outfits adorning the counter, empty plates piled by the sink.

'This place looks nice.' Tanith complimented, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table as Ghastly went over to the fridge and pulled out a slab of raw beef.

'Thanks.' Ghastly murmured absently, narrowing his eyes at the meat. He looked puzzled, and then flushed, seemingly embarrassed.

Tanith raised an eyebrow as Ghastly stood there, unmoving and clearly confused, for another few minutes, before he looked up at her, an apology written all over his face. 'I just remembered, I don't know how to cook.'

Tanith laughed loudly, much to Ghastly's chagrin. Her peals of delighted laughter filled the room, until soon enough Ghastly himself was joining in. When they were done laughing, Tanith got to her feet and made her way over to Ghastly. She placed her hand on the meat.

'You take it, cut it how you wish, and then put it in the cooker for however long you need it to cook.' she said encouragingly.

'Right.' Ghastly nodded, frowning. 'Easy. How do you like your steak?'

'Well done.'

'I wasn't aware I'd done something worth being congratulated for, but thanks.' Ghastly teased, making Tanith laugh again.

'That's such an awful pun- it should be punished.' she smiled mischievously. 'Geddit? _Pun_ished?'

Ghastly groaned, and Tanith laughed louder. 'I set myself up for that one.' Ghastly admitted with a grin.

'Cook the damn steak, Ghastly.' Tanith said with a smirk.

Ghastly did so- Tanith could tell he'd tried his best with tonight. She bit her lip, wondering if maybe she should have suggested dinner out and then insisted on paying. But she shook the thought away as soon as it crossed her mind. She had no right to criticize anything that Ghastly may or may not be able to do.

When the steak emerged from the cooker, Ghastly frowned in puzzlement. 'I did what the instructions and you told me to do, I swear!' he insisted, dropping it onto the counter.

Tanith got up once again and giggled. The slab of meat on the plate didn't look like a steak at all; all it resembled was a pile of coal, blackened with the odour of burning rising from it.

'Try again,' Tanith suggested, refusing to let Ghastly give up, even when he, too, suggested just going out for dinner. 'Except maybe take it out sooner.'

They tried again, Tanith helping him this time. But when they finally took the second piece of meat from the oven, it was pink, brown only around the edges.

Ghastly frowned again, even deeper than before. 'Where did I go wrong?'

Tanith groaned. 'We took it out too soon.'

'I hate steak.' Ghastly muttered menacingly. 'I hate cooking. I hate meat. I hate cows, for producing steak. Why does it have to be difficult? Why couldn't I have just bought a ready-made packet from the shop?'

'You're doing fine.' Tanith murmured, shaking the second attempt into a bin. 'Third time's a charm, anyway.'

'Stop babying me.' Ghastly complained, rolling his eyes. 'I may act like an awkward child, but I'm still an Elder.'

'Who doesn't know how to cook.'

There was a pause. 'I see your point. Please continue to baby me- feel free to cuddle me, too.'

Tanith grinned. 'There'll be time for cuddling later. Right now, though, I'm bloody starving. Get cooking.'

They tried again, for the third time- and thankfully, Tanith had been right. The third time _was_ a charm. The steak came out looking perfect, cooked just enough right the way through.

'Delicious.' Tanith smiled upon seeing it.

'See?' Ghastly hissed to the meat. 'Was that so hard? For god's sake, all you had to do was sit there and burn, and make sure you don't go on fire!'

'Go easy on the poor dear,' Tanith teased. 'He's been through a lot.'

'Are you seeing another steak, Tanith? Are you cheating on me with a cow's cooked stomach?' Ghastly pouted, sounding mock-hurt.

Tanith picked up her fork and delved into her piece of meat, grinning. 'Yes.' she said, smiling dreamily. 'Yes, I am.'

'I knew it!' Ghastly gasped dramatically, sending Tanith into a fit of giggles.

The meal was nice... nice enough. Ghastly had kept to his word when he said he would serve steak, and the steak was delicious, but it was the only thing on the plate. A slab of beef with the ketchup that Tanith had found at the back of the fridge.

But, hell, Tanith wasn't complaining. She was having the time of her life, right there in Bespoke Tailor's with her handsome date.

When they were finished with their food, Tanith stood up. 'I've been training today.' Tanith informed him with a sly smirk. 'Would you like to see what I've learned?'

'No.' Ghastly said immediately, eyes wide with fear.

'Oh, don't worry, honey, I won't hurt you.' Tanith teased.

'You just want to show off then? Oh, that's fine, it's all right. Go ahead.'

'I do not show off.' Tanith protested, but she took Ghastly's hand and led him out to the shop's back yard anyway. She definitely wouldn't be turning down the offer to... prove her skills, and definitely _not_ show off.

****HL****

'You most certainly are showing off.' Ghastly grumbled as Tanith cried out, landing a kick onto his garden chair. 'Oi! That was a good chair, that was!'

'Sorry.' Tanith giggled.

She did a neat twirl, making her way over to him. Ghastly was mesmerized, as he had previously been for the whole of her demonstration, with how precise and sharp her movements were. Like a deadly ballerina. The white swan one minute, the black swan the next.

But then the moment was ruined when Tanith's arm went flying out, crashing into Ghastly's own arm. The sound of a fist colliding with muscle went through the air, followed by a cry of barely suppressed pain.

'Ghastly!' Tanith gasped, stopping her dramatic movement and grabbing onto his arm painfully. He gave a groan.

'Please- get- off- my- arm...' he croaked. Tanith winced and immediately let go, muttering an apology.

'Oh, I'm sorry!' she cried. 'I didn't mean to!'

Ghastly winced- that had actually really, really hurt. But he had to put a brave face on, as was expected from an army man. He forced a smile. 'No harm done.' he said, though he still clutched his arm. He felt sure it was broken- _ow_.

There was a pause, then Tanith grinned. 'So... what did you think of my moves?'

Ghastly groaned. 'Oh, they're wonderful.' he smiled. 'Tanith?'

'Yes, Ghastly?'

'Thank you for coming tonight. I know I'm not the best company in the world, and the whole steak thing could have gone better, but...'

'Ghastly. Tonight has been absolutely perfect.' Tanith smiled. 'I couldn't have asked for more.'

Ghastly raised his eyebrows. 'Really?'

'Oh, yes.' Tanith's eyes sparked with excitement. 'Thank you for inviting me.'

'It was my pleasure.' Ghastly said, grinning like a maniac.

Tanith leaned in slightly. Ghastly recognised this as his chance, and, before he could convince himself not to, he dived in and captured her lips with his own in a heated kiss. His arms slid around her waist, her arms snaked around his neck, and they held each other as close as possible, savouring the moment.

After what felt like hours, but could only have been minutes, the kiss ended. Ghastly pulled back, his mouth hanging slightly open in surprise that an amazing woman such as Tanith had ended up being here with him tonight, wrapped in his arms, exchanging a passionate kiss with him, telling him that their evening had been perfect.

Ghastly knew he could never ask for more than this. This... this was perfect. His idea of heaven.

'Goodnight, Mr Bespoke.' Tanith whispered, her eyes meeting his.

'Goodnight, Miss Low.'

**A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO !  
>No one else would sing it to me, so I'm singing it to myself. O:)<br>I couldn't help it- I've made this chapter seven pages long. I JUST LIKE WRITING IT, OKAY? But I don't think any of you are actually complaining about the chapters being too long. I've never heard of that actually happening before.  
>So, anyway. I promised I'd give you an update today, and here it is!<br>By the way... DID ANYONE WATCH SHERLOCK (BBC) ON SUNDAY? SHERLOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK! I'm not going to hold a thousand word conversation about it in an author's note, though, so I'll just say this: Oh my gawd. I now have to satisfy myself with fanfiction until the new series starts, if it actually ever starts. :( WHY ARE THERE ONLY THREE EPISODES? DAMN YOU WORLD!  
>Hope you liked the chapter, please review, thank you for doing so... woop!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	28. Liar Liar

**Chapter 28. **

'Are you sure it was her?' Slash demanded, staring at the handsome man with the pale face. 'Absolutely sure? Positive?'

'Yes.' the vampire said with a touch of impatience. 'She was out there in Haggard, killing innocents for no apparent reason. I am quite sure it was her.'

Slash didn't move for a few seconds, and then a huge smile spread across his face. 'This is perfect!' he exclaimed. 'This is more than any of us could have hoped for!'

'I warn you, though.' the vampire warned. 'She _is_ dangerous. If she'd have seen me last night, she would have killed me in a matter of seconds.'

Slash paused and considered this, then rolled his eyes. 'That's the point, imbecile.' he said. 'She's not meant to be nice and friendly. She's meant to be Darquesse, killer of worlds.'

The vampire gave a light sneer. 'Look at you, foolish mortal. So arrogant. So stupid. You know the type of things that woman can do, and yet still, you seek her out.'

'Shut up.' Slash growled. 'And go kill some more people.'

The vampire's lip curled for a moment before he gave a slight bow. 'Of course.' he said graciously, turning away and striding in the direction away from the pier.

Slash glared after the vampire for a few seconds, before remembering something. 'Dusk!' he called the vampire's name.

Dusk turned around, eyebrow raised in questioning, long pink scar more clear than ever on his frighteningly pale face. 'Yes?'

'Maybe if you stop by to check on our darling Cain. See how she's coping with recent events. Make sure she's not been stupid enough to kill herself out of guilt or something.'

Dusk sighed world-wearily. 'I'll see what I can do.'

Slash blinked, and the vampire was gone.

****HL** **

Valkyrie was giving him the cold shoulder.

At first, Blade had been unable to believe that someone as dignified and strong as Valkyrie Cain was resorting to such a childish punishment, but she had gone for four hours already, just ignoring him.

The worst thing was, it was working. Blade found himself feeling guilty and hurt by her rejection, just as she had probably been hurt about him lying to her and then refusing to tell her why.

Blade sighed and knocked on the door to Valkyrie's room, glancing down at his feet as he heard movements from inside the room suddenly freeze.

'Who is it?' Valkyrie's voice rang out, holding a note of irritation. Not good.

'Uh... it's me.' Blade replied loudly, feeling suddenly awkward.

'Who's me?' Valkyrie definitely sounded annoyed now.

Blade opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short by a sudden thud, followed by a loud curse.

'Can it wait?' Valkyrie called out.

'It's Blade- I really need to talk to you.' there was another thud. 'Valkyrie, what the hell is going on in there?'

'Nothing.' she snapped. 'Really, Blade, I'm busy.'

'What are you doing?'

After thinking for a few moments whether it would be wise, Blade pushed open Valkyrie's door and peered inside. Valkyrie was lying on the floor, belly-down, arms spread wide and holding onto a large white bedsheet. She looked up at him, her chocolate eyes flashing. 'Do you mind?' she demanded.

Blade let out a chuckle. 'You seriously can't change your bed?'

'I wouldn't have to if it weren't for you.' she retorted, getting to her feet and shooting the bedsheet a nasty look. 'Stupid sheet. All it had to do was sit still and let me put it on my bed. Why was that so hard? Why could it not just do that?'

Blade smirked. 'If it helps, I don't think it meant to personally offend you.'

Valkyrie scowled. 'How do you know? It probably did. There's probably a whole world of bedsheets whose life missions are to make changing my bed harder.'

'I'm sure.' Blade drawled.

Valkyrie grinned at him, and then she suddenly frowned. 'I'm still mad at you.' she informed him.

'Looks like it.'

'I really am.'

'I don't doubt it.'

'Seriously. This is my mad face.' her eyebrows were drawn together and her mouth was puckered in a pout, eyes narrowed.

Blade laughed again. 'Does it usually soften girls up when guys say that they're cute when they're mad?'

'Sometimes.'

'You're cute when you're mad.'

'Good, because I'm still mad.'

Blade sighed and raised an eyebrow. 'Really? Valkyrie, I really am sorry.'

'Why can't you just tell me what you're lying to me about?' Valkyrie asked, all humour drained from her voice.

_Because I don't want to hurt you_. 'Because you wouldn't want to know.'

'And why is that?'

_Because we let you go into a Necromancers temple alone for utterly no reason while we stayed behind and plotted against you, then coming up with a plan that none of us actually like. _'You won't like it.'

'Try me.' Valkyrie challenged, folding her arms over her chest. 'Please, Blade.'

'I'm sorry, Val.' Blade sighed.

Valkyrie stared at him for a few seconds before nodding slowly. 'All right. I suppose... I suppose it's all right.'

Whatever Blade had been expecting her response to be, he hadn't been expecting that. 'What?' he asked lamely.

'We all have secrets to keep, right?' Valkyrie smiled. 'God knows, I've lied to you far too many times to go all judgey on you because you're keeping one secret, right?'

A slow grin formed on Blade's face. 'Right.' he said. 'Friends?'

Valkyrie leaned forward and planted a light kiss on Blade's cheek, making his eyes go wide and his heart suddenly pound that little bit quicker against his chest. He hadn't been expecting _that_, either.

Valkyrie pulled back and smiled. 'Friends.'

****HL** **

Valkyrie stared at the journal as she flipped through it for what felt like the hundredth time.

_Lord Vile walked into my temple. _

_Lord Vile walked into my temple. _

_Lord Vile walked into my temple. _

Valkyrie was still finding it hard to believe that the man- well, skeleton- that she'd spent a good few years following like a puppy was Lord Vile, the evil sorcerer who tried to kill the world. It was just... well, unbelievable was the only word Valkyrie had managed to find. There were probably a good few more that Valkyrie would think of when she was able to get her brain going at its normal speed.

Maybe Tenebrae had planted that journal there, just to scare anyone who came across it away from Skulduggey. Maybe it was just a spiteful lie. Valkyrie wished that it was, but... it all seemed so genuine. And would even Tenebrae stoop to that level?

She would need to ask Skulduggery, Valkyrie realized. She would need to talk to him about it and ask him to give her an honest, straight-forward answer to the question: Are you Lord Vile?

Valkyrie let her head fall into her hands, eyes closed and fingers gently rubbing her temples. Complicated. It was all so damn complicated.

She glanced out the window at the now-setting sun. It was a beautiful sight, really. The beautiful colours. The end of the day, the beginning of the night. Even in a dull-as-dishwater town like Roarhaven, there was something beautiful to be found.

Valkyrie moved closer to her window and her gaze left the window, falling instead on the ground below her. There was a figure- definitely male, slim and tall- stood on the ground, head tilted up as if looking straight at her. Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at it suspiciously, wondering what he was doing, if he really was looking at her.

The man didn't move. He looked to be wearing a long coat, similar to Valkyrie's old one, that fell around his knees and swished around in the strong Irish breeze.

Finally, Valkyrie found herself too unnerved to look at him any longer, and quickly pulled the curtains over her window and left the room.

She simply wasn't in the mood to be dealing with this tonight.

****HL** **

Dusk smiled slightly to himself. He could smell the girl's fear from all the way down here, and it smelled delicious. Even now, being the tough nut that she was, she found herself being scared by even the slightest shadow of a threat.

He was glad he had taken his serum, glad that he didn't have to turn into a beast tonight, and could instead stay in his human form and feel every emotion that came from Valkyrie Cain.

She wasn't doing very well. Dusk could sense anger from her, anger and betrayal and hurt, mixed in with a delicious guilt and some beautiful shame.

It was wonderful.

Dusk had known the moment that he'd tasted Cain's blood that she was different- _powerful_. Remarkably so, actually. So it didn't serve as that much of a surprise when Slash Furious revealed to him and a few other vampires that Valkyrie Cain's true name was Darquesse, the one who happened to kill the world. There was a sweet irony to it, Dusk liked to think- the girl who constantly saved the world would ultimately be the one to destroy it.

Since the moment that Furious had recruited him and the rest of his horde, paying them with a daily supply of fresh victims, and therefore fresh blood, Dusk had been going out and killing sorcerers. It wasn't the best thing in the world, to be ordered around by someone who was unquestionably weaker than you, but at least he knew he was this of his own free will. He could stop any time he wanted- but Dusk didn't want to stop. It was fun, killing people, and he got paid in fresh blood for doing it. What could be better?

He backed away, tearing his gaze from Cain's window and letting it instead fall on the vampire who was approaching him. Dusk let a snarl appear on his face, a snarl of anger and distaste.

Caelan glared at him. 'What are you doing here, Dusk?'

'I could ask you the same thing.' Dusk sneered. 'Or are you still infatuated with the human?'

'Shut up.' Caelan growled, his stance changing to one of alertness. He was ready to defend or pounce if he needed to. 'Go. Now.'

'I'd really rather not.' Dusk said lazily, raising an eyebrow and smirking. 'What? Are you going to _make_ me leave?'

'Yes.'

Dusk let out a loud laugh. 'Oh, Caelan, you never cease to amuse me! You cannot make me do anything, little weakling.'

Anger took over Caelan's features, and Dusk realized for the first time that the other vampire must have taken a serum, too. How else would he be walking around at night in his human form?

'I am not weak!' Caelan hissed, dark eyes flashing.

'Not physically, maybe.' Dusk agreed, eyes narrowing. 'But your true weakness is in your heart. The problem is, you see, that you actually _have_ one. You waste your days pining after humans, hoping to find someone who will love you, who will make you feel human. You do not see that you will never find this person.'

'Shut _up_!' Caelan snarled, and he lunged.

Dusk hissed and stepped back. Caelan managed to catch himself before he went stumbling to the ground. He looked up at Dusk, anger and humiliation clear in his face. 'Stay away from Valkyrie.'

'I don't plan to. But I suggest that _you _follow your own advice. This little obsession of yours is dangerous, to everyone involved, to vampires themselves.'

'Good!' Caelan blurted. 'Vampire-kind can burn in hell, for all I care!'

'This self-loathing of yours got tedious long ago.' Dusk sighed. He glanced one more at Cain's window, then back at Caelan, before smiling cruelly. 'I hope you are prepared for a bitter rejection.'

With that, Dusk left Caelan standing there in the same state as he always had been in, always would be in...

Alone.

****HL** **

'Willow?' Valkyrie raised a hand to knock quietly on Willow's door. 'You in there?'

'Yes,' the younger girl replied. 'Come in, Valkyrie.'

Valkyrie opened the door and smiled upon seeing Willow sat in the middle of the ceiling. 'Having a practice?'

'Yes.' Willow giggled, and Valkyrie suddenly felt herself falling... upwards. She landed on the ceiling next to Willow with a thud, her hair hanging down.

She grinned. 'You could warn me when you're about to do that, you know. It's not fair.'

'But then where would be the element of surprise?' Willow laughed. 'You okay, Val?'

'I'm fine, thanks.' Valkyrie hesitated. 'Willow? Can I ask you something?'

'Of course.'

'I'd like to be on the floor when I ask this.'

'That's too bad.'

Valkyrie pouted, then sighed. 'I think Blade's lying to me about something.'

Willow suddenly looked interested. 'You do?' she asked, looking eager. 'What's he lying about? Have you found out about some long-hidden feelings that he has for you?'

'What?' Valkyrie asked, confused. 'No. Willow, shut up.'

'Sorry.'

'It's just... today, he was acting all strange. I asked if something was wrong, and he told me he'd set fire to my bed-'

'He what?'

'Willow!' Valkyrie snapped. 'Will you just listen?'

'Sorry.' Willow repeated, glancing down- or was it up?

Valkyrie continued, 'But that was just an excuse. He lied to me, Willow, and now he won't tell me what was really wrong with him because he thinks I won't like it. How do I get him to tell me the truth?'

'You made a wise choice coming to me about this, O Young One.' Willow said in a sombrely.

Valkyrie giggled. 'I'm older than you, you dolt.'

'Shh.' Willow said in a dreamy voice, closing her eyes. 'Mystic Willow is making a prediction about you and Blade.'

'Take your time.'

'I was planning to.'

'But be quick.'

'Right.' Willow opened her eyes and grinned. 'I predict that everything will be fine. Everyone is allowed secrets.' her voice returned to normal. 'Come on, Val, you know that better than anyone.'

'I know, I know. I just...' Valkyrie sighed. 'I never thought he'd lie to me, that's all.'

'I get it.' Willow smiled.

Examining the younger girl closely, Valkyrie's eyes narrowed slightly. There was something off with Willow... she had a look in her eye.

The same look that had been in Blade's bright green eyes when he'd admitted that he'd been keeping something from her.

'You know, I'd better go.' Valkyrie lied, straightening up suddenly. 'I need to speak with Skulduggery about something.'

Willow raised her eyebrows. 'Oh... okay. Any time you need to talk to me, Val, just come see me. I miss spending time with you.'

'Me, too.' Valkyrie admitted, grasping Willow's hand and squeezing it lightly. 'I'll see you in the morning, Will.'

'See you, Val. Sleep well, okay?'

Valkyrie grinned. 'No promises.'

She suddenly dropped to the ground again, hard.

'Sorry!' she heard Willow squeal loudly.

'I'm fine.' Valkyrie grunted, sitting up and flapping her suddenly sore wrist about. 'Just, you know... warnings. They're always nice.'

'I'll keep it in mind.'

'_Please_ do.'

Valkyrie left Willow's room, only feeling more confused. Maybe she really _should_ speak to Skulduggery. She was overreacting, she knew, but she didn't like people lying to her. Ever. If Valkyrie ever suspected anyone was lying to her, she got this horrible feeling inside...

But Skulduggery would be at home by now, probably either in his meditative state or doing whatever else Skulduggery does. Although, Valkyrie did feel in the mood for a good walk.

At least, to the taxi station.

She returned to her own room and put on a grey jacket with her magic boots. She made a mental note to remind Ghastly to hurry up with her new clothes.

It didn't take Valkyrie long to find a taxi- granted, she had to walk a mile and a half away from Roarhaven to do so, but at least she found one. She got in and told the driver to take her to Haggard. The driver, a man of about twenty with deep circles under his eyes, took a long, appraising look at her before nodding and driving at a steady speed to Haggard. Valkyrie noticed his tired eyes occasionally glancing back at her in the mirror, and she soon grew impatient with him.

'Is there something wrong?' she demanded.

'N-no. Not at all.' the driver replied, eyes returning to the road.

Valkyrie frowned and glanced out the window, catching, for the first time all day, her reflection. She had to admit, she'd looked better. The circles under her eyes matched those of the driver, and her face was pale- unnaturally so. There was a dark bruise on her forehead from where the White Cleaver had hit her earlier.

'I look a mess.' she said quietly to herself.

The driver glanced back at her with a nervous smile. 'Rough day?'

Valkyrie surprised herself with a short laugh. 'The worst.'

'What happened to your head?' the driver seemed visibly relaxed now, seeing that Valkyrie wasn't being hostile.

Valkyrie hesitated. 'I hit it... on a wall.'

'Right.' the driver nodded, eyes on the road. 'Happens to us all, I suppose. Are you from out of town?'

'California, actually.' Valkyrie smiled.

'Yeah, you sound American.'

Valkyrie let out a soft chuckle. It had been a while since she'd had a conversation as simple and innocent as this. It felt nice.

'Turn left here.' she said when they reached an intersection. The driver did so, and glanced back at her once more.

'So, what's your name?'

'Va- Stephanie.' Valkyrie said. 'My name is Stephanie. What's yours?'

'Chris.' Chris grinned goofily. He was cute, Valkyrie decided. A nice little distraction from the horrors of the rest of the day, found in an innocent cab.

Valkyrie nodded. 'Cute. Nice to meet you, Chris.'

'You, too. Hey... would you like to, I don't know, go out for a coffee sometime?' Chris looked somewhat embarrassed. 'I mean, you don't have to-'

'That'd be nice.' her answer surprised even Valkyrie herself. She didn't have time to be going out for coffee with taxi drivers. But she found herself accepting the offer- everyone needed something normal in their life, didn't they? Even Valkyrie Cain. The idea of having coffee with Chris the Taxi Man sounded nice. Much nicer than facing another day of lies and true names.

'Great!' Chris grinned again.

Suddenly, there was a loud _bang_ of gunfire, followed by the piercing _crack_ of breaking glass, and Chris slumped back in his seat as a spray of blood spattered against the windscreen.

Valkyrie's eyes widened as she fumbled to unbuckle her seatbelt. She pressed down on the belt's red button and jumped forward, managing to grab the steering wheel and veer left in time to avoid a bank.

She cursed under her breath, trying with her free hand to move Chris' limp body out of the driver's seat so she could sit there to control the car while simultaneously darting her eyes about, searching for the mystery shooter. She managed to roll Chris over to the passenger seat.

Valkyrie's hand reached out to try and wipe some of the blood from the windows, in order to clear her view of the road. After failing at that, she stomped her foot down on the brake so hard that there was a loud screech as the tires jerked to a halt. Valkyrie waited a moment to control her quickened breathing before opening the taxi door and jumping out, whipping her head around. A few cars had stopped at the sound of the gunshots, the drivers looking alarmed and worried. Pedestrians were either running away or rushing over to help. Valkyrie brushed them all off, now staring inside the taxi at Chris' lifeless form.

An innocent man was dead- why? Why had he been killed? It couldn't be a coincidence that it had happened while Valkyrie was in a cab with him. It just couldn't be. Chris had been killed because he had talked to her, held a conversation with her, shared a taxi with her.

Valkyrie couldn't help the light shiver that ran through her. Someone was calling the police, someone was shouting for someone to call an ambulance. She felt her lips moving, telling someone she was all right, while she processed what she had just found out.

Someone, an _innocent man_, had just been _killed _for being in _contact_ with her.

Valkyrie's legs moved, in the direction that she knew would take her to Skulduggery's house, if she walked long enough. People were shouting for her. Wait, come back! Valkyrie kept walking. She didn't look back.

_This is what happens when you try to be normal, _the voice said. That voice. That god damn voice.

_Go away and leave me alone, _Valkyrie snapped back. _And stop making me feel like a crazy person for replying to you. _

Rational sense started to return to Valkyrie. She increased her pace, started in a jog, in a sudden hurry to get to Skulduggery... even if she wasn't going to speak to him about Lord Vile, she was going to tell him about _this_. He would help her find the mysterious shooter, help her figure out why Chris had been killed.

It took her exactly eight minutes and twenty six seconds to reach the driveway to Skulduggery's house, with the sleek Bentely parked neatly there. She knocked frantically on his door, and was about to barge in- lock or no lock- when a pristinely-dressed, as usual, Skulduggery appeared behind the suddenly open door.

'Valkyrie?' he sounded surprised. 'What are you doing here?'

'Skulduggery,' Valkyrie breathed, pushing past him and entering the house that she hadn't seen for four years. It looked the same as ever.

'Come in, then.' Skulduggery grumbled from behind her. 'Sometimes, your manners astound me.'

'Skulduggery, I think someone just tried to kill me.'

Skulduggery was alert at once. 'What? Who?'

'I don't know.' Valkyrie ran a frustrated hand through her hair. 'I'm fine, before you ask. Just annoyed- argh!'

'What happened?' Skulduggery asked.

'I was getting a taxi so I could come over and speak to you about something, and I got talking to the driver. He asked me out for coffee, I said yes, and then he was shot. He's dead, and I'm sure someone was aiming for me. There's now a whole crowd of people calling the police and worrying about some psychopathic gunman being on the loose.'

'Well, this isn't good.' Skulduggery said gruffly. He reached out and pulled his coat off his coat rack, reaching into the pocket for his beloved Smith and Wesson.

'We're going to find the killer?' Valkyrie asked.

'Yes,' Skulduggery replied.

'You think they're still around?'

'Most likely.'

They left the house, started toward the Bentley. Skulduggery got in his side, and Valkyrie hesitated for a moment before getting in on her side. 'Do you think it's someone working with Slash Furious?'

'No.' Skulduggery shook his head. 'He wants you alive, remember? He just wants Darquesse. No, whoever did this wants you dead.'

'That doesn't exactly narrow it down.' Valkyrie said, frowning.

'No.' Skulduggery admitted. 'It doesn't. Where was it?'

'Outside the flower shop, just around the corner from here.'

'Maggie's Flower Shop?'

'That's the one.'

Skulduggery made a sharp turn and drove to Maggie's Flower Shop. By now, there were police cars parked around the taxi, an ambulance too. Valkyrie and Skulduggery both jumped out of the car, slamming their doors behind them.

'Where did the shot come from?' the skeleton detective asked.

'It came through the front right window, and it got the driver in the neck.' Valkyrie answered immediately. 'But it came from an angle- like it was in front.'

'Right.' Skulduggery nodded, and then glanced to the right. 'This way.'

They started running. Valkyrie saw a figure, that of a man, running away, and her eyes narrowed. Their was a suspicious weapon that looked an awful lot like a handgun in his hand as he ran. 'There!' she cried. 'That's him!'

The running pace increased, and Valkyrie and Skulduggery were both sprinting after the man. Skulduggery pulled his perfectly polished gun from his pocket and pointed ahead of him, not necessarily at the running figure. He fired. The loudness of the gunshot didn't affect Valkyrie at all, but it seemed to bother the man. He stumbled suddenly. Skulduggery fired again, and the man fell over.

They caught up to him quickly, and suddenly the man was standing, Skulduggery pinning his arms behind his back. Valkyrie didn't recognise him.

'Who are you?' she demanded, crossing her arms. She didn't have to regain her breath; running didn't tire Valkyrie out.

Watching people get shot did a little bit, though.

'I heard that you were back.' the man said, glaring at her. 'You and your little friends.'

'Did you, now?' Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'You know of me, then?'

'Who doesn't?' he spat. 'The great Valkyrie Cain, the one who saved the world three times before her fifteenth birthday.'

'I'm famous.' Valkyrie smiled softly. 'That's nice. But why, may I ask, did you just try to shoot me?'

'I have a horrible aim.' the man drooped, looking down with a miserable expression. 'I didn't mean to kill the other one.'

'You mean the innocent mortal who died for no reason whatsoever?'

'I was aiming for you.' the man snarled.

'Why?' Valkyrie demanded.

'Because I'm a seer.' he hissed. 'I've seen the future- I've seen what you're going to do to the world. Soon enough, everyone will be having visions like I am, and everyone will be trying to kill you. Just wait.'

Valkyrie stiffened, staring at the man. 'What... what I'm going to do the world? As in, will in the future?'

'Of course.' the man paused. 'Don't pretend that you didn't know...'

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. So she was still going to kill the world...

Oh, wonderful.

'So you tried to kill me because you don't want me to kill the world.' Valkyrie murmured. 'Understandable. Have you told anyone about me?'

He hesitated. 'No. But I plan to. The whole world will know what you're going to do, and they'll kill you.'

'No, they won't. They won't know.' Valkyrie said softly, her voice a deadly whisper.

'Valkyrie.' Skulduggery's voice was a warning.

Valkyrie stared at the man, her eyes meeting his. He looked suddenly scared. 'You're not going to tell anyone, are you?'

'N-no.' he stammered.

'Good boy.' Valkyrie smiled. 'I'll keep you to your word. Skulduggery, let him go.'

The man was released. As if under a spell, he stared, struck by either fear or awe, at Valkyrie for a few seconds before blinking and then running away.

There was a minute of silence before Skulduggery broke it. 'What,' he asked slowly. 'was _that_?'

**A/N: O.O 8 pages? It's official... writing is my stress-relief. Lucky for you guys, unlucky for my health. Seriously. I've been sat here for an hour just typing away. x)  
>So, anyway. Loooong update. Hope you liked it! :D Feel free to leave a review, they make me smile. New target? 200 reviews... think we'll get there?<br>Eh, we can try.  
>Thank you for reviewing or adding to favouritesalerts! :)  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	29. Fish N Chips

**Chapter 29. **

'I... I...' Valkyrie stammered, her sudden burst of confidence gone. 'I don't know.' she finally admitted, staring at the spot that the seer had just run from.

'It sounded to me like that was Darquesse.' Skulduggery said softly, quietly, his voice even more like velvet than usual.

'It felt like that.' Valkyrie confessed. 'Darquesse, I mean. I... I don't know. Can we just go, please?'

Skulduggery nodded and they started walking, ignoring the crowd of mortals and simply heading back to the Bentley. 'What was it you wanted to talk to me about?' he asked her in a casual manner once they were inside the sleek black car.

Valkyrie glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, before shaking her head. 'Nothing. It's not important any more.'

'It must have been, if you were going to get a taxi here at this time of night.' Skulduggery pressed.

Valkyrie paused, then shrugged. 'I've forgotten.' she lied, and that was the end of that matter. 'So,' she said after a long bout of silence, 'more people are getting visions. That's... frightening.'

'I imagine so.' Skulduggery murmured. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine.' Valkyrie sighed, resting her head on the car window. 'How many more people do you think will have a vision about me by the end of the month?'

'I honestly don't know. I imagine that it might be a few.'

'That's not good.'

'No, it's not.' Skulduggery agreed, overtaking a car that seemed to be crawling by at two miles an hour. 'Idiot.' he muttered.

Valkyrie smiled. 'That was probably an old man. Do you make a habit of calling poor elderly citizens idiots?'

'Technically, _I'm_ a poor elderly person. Four hundred years old, remember?'

'Hmm... true.' Valkyrie chuckled. 'You don't seem old.'

'That would be down to the fact that I'm a skeleton, my dear apprentice.'

'Good point.' she smiled at him, then frowned. Was Valkyrie talking to her old friend Skulduggery Pleasant, or was she in the presence of all-powerful Lord Vile? If she told him that she knew his secret, would he kill her? Was she just being stupid? There was, of course, always the condolence that Tenebrae might have been lying... but why would he lie in his own journal?

'Would you like me to return you to the Sanctuary, or would you maybe prefer to sleep at my house tonight?' Skulduggery asked suddenly, drawing Valkyrie away from her thoughts and back to the present.

Valkyrie hesitated. Much as she'd like to see Skulduggery's house properly again... 'Sanctuary, if you don't mind.'

Skulduggery gave a soft snort. 'Fine. If my company isn't enough for you.'

She laughed. 'As it is, I'd much prefer an actual bed. Something which you don't have.'

'I could set up the sofa bed for you.'

'You have a sofa bed?'

'I bought one after I first met you.'

'That's sweet.'

'I haven't even bloody used it yet.' Skulduggery muttered, driving in the direction of the Roarhaven Sanctuary.

****HL** **

The next day, Valkyrie and the others who had been assigned to the Case of the Playing Card Murders, as they were now calling it, made an agreement that from now on they would completely dedicate themselves to solving the case.

'I think it was Slash Furious, working with his... colleagues. He could easily have hired a vampire, and he definitely had some skilled fighters on his side.' Valkyrie offered.

Everyone gave a general agreement, apart from Tanith, who didn't know who Slash Furious was.

Valkyrie hesitated. 'Someone bad.' she said finally.

'Great explanation.' Tanith muttered, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. She obviously didn't like not knowing things.

'It's looking more and more likely that Furious and his pals are behind this.' Hades said. 'I mean, come on. Who else could it be?'

_Darquesse, _the name flew to the forefront of Valkyrie's mind before she could stop it. She inwardly cursed her own sudden sense of self-loathing. Or was it self-loathing? Was Darquesse Valkyrie herself, or just... just a bad mood?

'And there are no other likely suspects.' Willow added.

Hazel smirked. 'Really, Ravel, this case is too easy.'

'You weren't saying that a few days ago.' Erskine muttered. 'All right. So it's settled that Furious is behind this- right?'

'Right.' Valkyrie nodded. 'And not Necromancers. Meaning that my little visit to their temple yesterday was pointless, and so was my capture. I'm still waiting for an apology.'

'You'll have to keep waiting.' Erskine grinned at her. Then he frowned. 'But why would Slash Furious and his... _gang_... randomly murder people? I thought their sole purpose was to get Darquesse out of you.' he looked at Valkyrie, his eyebrows lifted in question.

She shrugged. 'Beats me. I don't know what goes on inside the mind of a twisted murderer.'

Hades snorted. 'You should.'

There was a moment of thick silence, in which Hades seemed to realize that he'd said the wrong thing, because his face turned a deep, unflattering shade of red and his eyes darted over to Valkyrie, wide with an unspoken apology.

'Right.' Valkyrie said softly, looking down. 'I suppose I _should_.'

'I didn't mean it like-'

'I know what you meant.' Valkyrie said, perhaps a little too sharply. But she didn't care. 'And I get it. Whatever. Stop talking, you'll give yourself a headache.'

Hades looked like he was about to say more, but a well-placed elbow from Blade made him shut up, to Valkyrie's relief.

'All right, then.' Skulduggery said, clapping his gloved hands together. 'At least we've made progress today. I think all we need to do now is find out why Furious and his gang committed the murders, and we'll be done. Agreed?'

'Agreed.' Ghastly smiled. 'And thank goodness for that.'

'It's been fun.' Willow nodded with a small smile, fluttering her lashes non-too-subtly at Erskine. 'Hasn't it?'

The Grand Mage cleared his throat. 'Yes, it has.' he grinned. 'But remember, we still have work to be doing.'

'Right on the day that we promised to give our everything to this case.' Blade rolled his eyes and smiled his crooked smile.

'Can we go and eat now?' Maddox asked eagerly. 'I haven't had anything since yesterday afternoon, and I'm starving.'

Valkyrie chuckled. 'I second that. We could go to the fish and chip shop.'

'Chippy.' Ghastly corrected lightly. 'We still call it a chippy over here, Valkyrie.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes with a grin. 'Whatever.'

'Not the Roarhaven chippy though.' Tanith wrinkled her nose, hooking her arm with Ghastly's. 'I swear, I found a cockroach in my gravy.'

'Pleasant.' Willow frowned.

'You called?' Skulduggery teased, looking over at her.

They all laughed.

'We could go to the fi- chippy,' Valkyrie corrected herself with a glance towards Ghastly, 'near the Hibernian.'

'The what?' Hades asked blankly.

'The Hibernian Cinema.' Valkyrie said with the trace of a smile, but it disappeared when she thought of poor old Kenspeckle. 'Used to be a cinema. Is now a medical bay. An old friend of ours used to work there...' Valkyrie trailed off, looking at Skulduggery.

'Let's go, before my stomach caves in on itself.' Maddox muttered, already heading towards the door, gently pulling Hazel along with him. He glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the group. 'Coming?'

'Definitely.' Blade said, jumping out of his chair.

****HL** **

Hades scowled. He could freely admit that he hated when Valkyrie and his brother got all... _snuggly_. As of now, they were sat next to each other in the back of Ghastly's van- Elder Bespoke had been kind enough to give them a ride- cross-legged... with Valkyrie's head resting on Blade's shoulder. She was asleep, her long dark hair falling in front of her face, obscuring most of her features, apart from those eyes, with the thick lashes brushing against her cheeks...

Hades blinked. Since when had he been so poetic in his descriptions? His scowl deepened and he looked away. 'Are we nearly there yet?' he asked with a note of impatience.

Willow shot him an irritated look. 'Will you stop asking that?'

'I'm curious.'

Willow sighed. 'Stop being annoying.'

'Stop being...' Hades hesitated. 'Stop being a powerless adept.'

'Powerless, huh?' the younger girl raised an eyebrow, suddenly looking amused. And the eyebrow wasn't the only thing that was lifted. Hades suddenly felt his body weight shift... upwards. He fell to the roof of the van with a loud thud, shooting the rest of the occupants a dark look when they started laughing. The loud laughter seemed to wake Valkyrie, and she sat up abruptly, blinking rapidly. 'Wha'dImiss?' she asked tiredly.

Hades scowled. 'Oh, not much.'

She looked up at him and grinned. 'Way to go, Willow.' she praised, tucking a dark lock behind her ear.

'Don't take her side.' Hades frowned. 'Come on, Will, let me down.'

Willow took on an ominous expression. 'Mystic Willow predicts that this will not happen any time soon.'

Valkyrie started laughing, and Hades looked at her confusedly. 'Inside joke?' he guessed.

'Sort of.' Valkyrie smirked. 'You can let him down now, Will.'

Willow did so... and not very gently.

'Shit!' Hades cursed as he fell to the floor.

'Do you mind back there?' Ghastly sounded annoyed. 'I don't want you breaking my van.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, man, I didn't realize.' Hades hissed. 'I'll try to stop being thrown around against my will.'

'Good boy.'

'Why does everybody treat me like a dog?' he complained, shifting into a sitting position again.

Hazel reached over and ruffled his hair, much to Hades' annoyance. 'Who's a good boy? You're a good boy!' she cooed in a high pitched voice, causing everyone to break out into more laughter.

'You need to stop setting yourself up for these.' Blade chuckled.

'We're here.' Ghastly announced before Hades could think of a witty response. They all piled out of the van.

Willow sniffed the air, and then let out a contented sigh. 'I smell it.' she stated dreamily. 'The food. The delicious food...'

'You act like you've not eaten for days.' Tanith muttered, rolling her eyes playfully.

'Have you ever tried going without food for twelve hours?' Valkyrie teased. 'Oh, it's simply _agonising_!'

'I can imagine.' Tanith grinned.

'You won't ever have to go without food for that long, my sweet.' Hades said jokingly, pressing a hand to his heart and fluttering his eyelids at Tanith. 'You will always have me and your long list of gentleman callers to serve you dinner.'

Tanith raised a blonde brow and smiled indulgently. 'Sweet.' she said. 'But I already have someone, thanks.' she shot a blissful look towards Ghastly, who smiled slightly awkwardly in response. 'And I don't plan on leaving him soon.'

'Oh, gag.' Hades muttered.

Tanith hit him on the arm.

****HL** **

It felt strange, to be sat on the rusty bench that Valkyrie and Skulduggery had always sat on with our fish and chips after seeing Kenspeckle, looking up at the huge Hibernian Cinema. She felt a pang in her heart when she thought of Kenspeckle. Oh, grouchy old Kenspeckle... he was sweet really, though. There were those moments when Valkyrie knew that the old man genuinely cared about her well-being. And plus, it was funny when he shouted at Skulduggery for constantly putting her in danger, something which she herself had never objected to.

'Feeling sad?' Tanith's voice sounded from next to Valkyrie. She glanced at her friend and smiled.

'No.' she answered, keeping her face relatively emotionless, save for that one smile. 'Just thinking. You know.'

Tanith nodded, not quite looking convinced. 'Spoken to China lately?'

Valkyrie frowned. 'Why?'

'There's a book I've been looking for.'

'What book?'

'It's...' Tanith hesitated. 'It's private.'

Valkyrie raised an elegant eyebrow. 'You don't want to tell me?'

'It's private.' the older girl repeated firmly.

'I guess I can get her number from Skulduggery and give her a call.' Valkyrie frowned. 'But I thought you and China didn't get on?'

'We don't.' Tanith made a face. 'But she does have a great library.'

'Okay, then.' Valkyrie smiled. 'I wonder if she even knew I was gone.'

Tanith rolled her eyes. 'Don't get offended if she didn't.'

'Wasn't planning to.'

'So? Are you going to call her?' Tanith asked impatiently.

Valkyrie hesitated. 'I can't. I need a new phone. Mine has been officially destroyed.'

'Did you beat it up too much?' Tanith grinned.

Valkyrie chuckled. 'Something like that.'

'What are you two talking about?' Blade asked curiously, stuffing a chip in his mouth and scooting closer to them.

'General stuff.' Valkyrie answered vaguely. 'Nothing you'd be interested in.'

Blade arched an eyebrow. 'You'd be surprised how much general stuff I really am interested in.'

'I don't think I would be.'

'And I disagree with you.'

'You really shouldn't.'

'And yet I do.'

'Did you know,' Tanith interrupted cheerily, 'that repeated bickering can be a sign of a healthy, loving relationship between two partners?'

'We're not partners!' Blade protested, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

At the same time, Valkyrie asked, 'Is that a real fact?'

They both looked at each other after they spoke, Valkyrie grinning, Blade looking grouchy. 'I regret ever joining this conversation.' he grumbled.

'That was the point.' Valkyrie smiled and patted him on the head. 'Now turn away and talk to Maddox like a good little boy.'

Blade rolled his eyes playfully and did as he was told. 'You have yours trained even better than I have mine.' Tanith observed in a wise voice.

Valkyrie laughed. 'My what?'

'Boyfriend.' Tanith answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Valkyrie's smile faltered slightly. 'Oh, we're not together.' she said.

'Of course you're not.'

'We really aren't.'

'Why?'

'Does there have to be a particular reason?'

'Yes.'

'Too bad, there's not.'

'But you have _chemistry,_' Tanith said in a whiny voice. 'And you're both _cute_.'

'Why, thank you.' Valkyrie said with a teasing wink.

'Everyone, back in the van.' Ghastly called suddenly, looking slightly uncomfortable. 'It's time to get back to the Sanctuary.'

'Why?' Willow asked with a frown.

Ghastly gave her a pointed look, and Willow's eyes suddenly widened. 'Oh!' she said. 'Right! Uh, right... okay.'

'What?' Valkyrie asked. She had the feeling that she was missing something.

'Nothing.' Maddox answered, a little too quickly for Valkyrie's liking. Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms, but walked on with them anyway.

'Are you hiding something from me?' she asked bluntly once they'd reached the van.

'Hiding something? From you?' Hades let out a laugh. 'Like we'd be able to do that, Val.'

'Did you just call me Val?'

Hades frowned. 'Am I not allowed to call you Val?'

'I'd prefer it if you didn't.'

'But... you let everyone else call you Val...'

'Are you everyone else?' Valkyrie asked with a raised eyebrow, and then she grinned. 'I'm kidding, idiot. You can call me Val.'

_It's better than Darquesse, anyway. _

Valkyrie climbed into the back of Ghastly's van, wiping the grease and crumbs on her hands away on her jeans.

'Hey, Ghastly.' she said, leaning over the front seat of the van and resting her chin on the top of the headrest. 'When will my clothes be ready?'

Ghastly paused. 'Today, I think. They just need a little more work.'

'Does it usually take this long?'

'Sorry, but I think you may have set a new number on my height scale.' the scarred Elder teased back. 'Now sit down while I drive. You might distract me.'

'With my extraordinary beauty?'

'Well, it has _something_ to do with your looks.' Ghastly grinned.

Valkyrie scowled. 'Thanks.'

She sat back, settling into a comfortable position with her leaning against the door of the van. Valkyrie liked to think that she ignored the shifty looks and hushed words that the rest of her so-called friends exchanged, but it wasn't true, really. Or maybe it was. Because someone as observant as Valkyrie shouldn't have missed it.

The last thing she heard was Blade's apologetic murmur of, 'Val, we're so sorry,' before something sharp jabbed into her right arm and the world turned black.

**A/N: Don't worry, she's not dead. It's not like I'd kill off a main character, so rest assured. x)  
>I am very sorry that I haven't updated lately! I don't have some fancy, pre-laid-out excuse for you- I simply, to put it bluntly, couldn't be bothered. I'm a shameful human being, I know.<br>Moving on now! On the bright side, there's going to be a Darquesse/Lord Vile showdown in the next chapter. Le gasp.  
>I hope you liked this chapter, even though I myself didn't particularly like it. I don't know... maybe it's because I ended up rewriting it six times until I finally felt satisfied that too much was being put into it. x)<br>Thanks for the reviews, please leave more!  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	30. Round One

**Chapter 30. **

When Darquesse opened her eyes, she saw red.

Of _course_. Of _course_ she should have been expecting them to do something like this... how could she have ever made the mistake of underestimating them? Had she honestly believed that they would be ignorant enough to not realize that the only logical explanation for those deaths was her?

A light growl passed her lips, and Darquesse's eyes narrowed as she saw Skulduggery Pleasant crouched in front of her, hat tipped forward on his skull.

'You're awake.' he noted.

'Your observational skills astound me.' Darquesse hissed, pulling at the shackles that bound her wrists. They snapped off with an almost frustrating easiness, and she slowly rose to her feet. Skulduggery did the same. She smiled. 'That's better. Now, whatever did you think you were doing, trying to trick me?'

'I think we've done quite well, actually.'

'This is a dangerous game.' Darquesse warned. 'Are you sure you want to play it with me?'

'This isn't a game.' Skulduggery said, his voice serious. 'You know it's not.'

The smile on her face turned coy. 'Of course it's a game. Everything in this world is. Didn't you know?'

'Then you won't win.'

Darquesse let out a slight laugh. 'Oh, you poor man.' she cocked her head to the side, running her eyes over the skeleton's form. A dark lock of hair fell into her eyes as the smile stretched wider. 'You genuinely believe that, don't you?'

'Give Valkyrie back.'

'I am Valkyrie. I am... her bad mood.'

The skeleton detective snorted. 'That's a new one. I haven't heard that one before.'

She shrugged. 'I do my best.' Darquesse grinned. 'Now, why don't you show me what _you _can do?'

Skulduggery quieted for a second before saying, 'I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about.'

Darquesse laughed. 'Oh, if you're going to play the game, at least play it properly. Put on that lovely armour of yours and show me what you can do... Vile.'

'Ah,' Skulduggery, much to Darquesse's disappointment, did not sound surprised. 'So you know about that.'

Darquesse shrugged. 'I found out when I was in dear old Tenebrae's office. He wrote about you in his journal- spoke very highly of you.' she smirked. 'I think he has a bit of a crush on you.'

'So Valkyrie found out.' he said, bringing a gloved hand up to push the hat slightly backwards.

'No,' Darquesse replied, growing impatient with his unwillingness to accept the facts, 'I found out. I am Valkyrie. I can't count how many times I've told you this... anyway. We're getting off subject. How long have you been planning this little get-together for?'

He shrugged. 'A day or so now.'

She nodded. Already in her head she was planning the many ways the others could die- but not Skulduggery. He was fascinating. A talking skeleton and the great Lord Vile, all in one?

Delicious.

****HL** **

'I don't _hear_ any screaming,' Tanith murmured, the side of her head pressed to the door of the room that they had locked Val- Darquesse in. 'I... I think they're _talking_.'

'As in, having a civil conversation?' Maddox asked. 'Or verbally ripping each other to pieces?'

'Talking.' Tanith's eyes narrow as she leaned in even further, trying to hear more. After a while, she gave up. She threw a sulky glance at Erskine. 'Exactly how thick are those wall?'

Erskine shrugged, the hint of a grin on his face. 'Let's just say that they're impenetrable. By anything.'

'Very thick, then,' Willow said, smiling. She then hesitated, looking up at Erskine. 'Can I talk to you for a second, Erskine?' she asked quietly.

The Grand Mage frowned confusedly. 'Of course,' he answered, getting to his feet.

Willow took a deep breath. _Okay, this is it, _she thought to herself as she started leading Erskine away to a more private place to talk, _Your big moment. Don't mess this up, Willow... _

She turned to face him. He was looking at her expectantly, a kind smile on his handsome face. Willow felt her stomach do a small somersault. 'Um... hi,' she said.

Inwardly, she groaned. _Brilliant, _she thought.

Erskine chuckled. 'Hi, Willow. What's wrong?'

'I... um...' _I haven't thought this through in the slightest, _Willow realized with a sense of misery. 'Can I tell you something? You have to promise to not laugh at me. Or tell me I'm stupid. Or, you know, both.'

'I promise,'

'Okay,' another deep breath. 'I... like you.'

Erskine blinked, looking confused. The smile dropped, just slightly. 'I like you, too.' he replied.

Willow's eyebrows flew practically into her hairline. 'Really?' she asked. 'You do? Wait... no, I mean, I _like _you.' she felt a blush spread across her cheeks. This wasn't going well.

'As in...' Erskine frowned, shaking his head. 'You can't, Willow. Not in that way. I'm too old for you- much, much too old.'

'I don't care.' Willow said sincerely. She truly didn't.

'I'm over four hundred years old. You're sixteen. That... doesn't go well,' Erskine sighed. 'I'm sorry, Willow. It's just a crush. It'll go away soon.'

'No, it won't.' Willow countered, crossing her arms stubbornly. 'I'm being serious, okay? I think that you're... you're kind, and you're brave, and you're ridiculously attractive, and-'

'You can't think that way about me,' Erskine interrupted, his voice firm.

'But...' Willow, much to her embarrassment, felt hot tears prickling at her eyes. No. No crying, not now.

'No. I'm... I'm sorry, Willow.' Erskine looked down.

And then he walked away. Walked away from Willow, and left her standing staring after him, the humiliation and pain already eating away at her heart.

****HL** **

'I can hear them more now.' Tanith said suddenly, sitting up to attention from her previous position of slouching against the door as an uncomfortable-looking Erskine and a teary-eyed Willow returned. Oh, god. Tanith didn't even _want_ to ask. 'They're definitely talking, being completely civil...' she frowned. 'Did I just hear her say Lord Vile?'

'What does he have to do with any of this?' Ghastly asked with a frown to match those on the faces of both Tanith and Erskine.

'Keep listening,' Erskine ordered.

'Yes, your higness.' Tanith muttered, rolling her eyes and then falling silent as she continued to listen. 'Skulduggery's asking questions.'

'So... the plan worked?' Blade asked, a note of surprise in his voice. 'We got him to convince her to talk?'

'I don't think it's that- holy crap!' Tanith jumped as she heard a crash right next to her ear. She turned to the others with wide eyes. 'They're fighting, definitely fighting.'

'She'll kill him!' Willow squeaked. 'Get him out!'

Tanith pulled desperately at the door; jammed. She cursed under her breath and ran a hand through her tousled locks. She shot a glare at Erskine. 'If he dies in there because of your god damn _impenetrable walls_...'

'We'll get him out,' Erskine said, looking slightly nervous himself. 'Somehow...'

****HL***

'Come on,' Darquesse challenged, growing even more impatient. '_Fight_ me. I dare you.'

The skeleton didn't move.

Darquesse positioned herself in a fighting stance, hands balled into fists and waving playfully in front of her. 'Put 'em up,' she said.

Still no movement.

Darquesse sighed. 'This is getting boring,' she said flatly, 'And I hate being bored. Start entertaining me, Skulduggery, or I might just get angry.'

A few seconds of silence. Bored, Darquesse started to play with fire. Literally. She summoned a fireball to sit, harmless, in her hand, and then tilted her arm. It rolled down towards her elbow, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke along her arm. Snap. A click of her fingers, and her whole body was engulfed in flames. She felt the heat, but there was no burning. Her hair stayed long and chocolate coloured on her head, and her skin was kept smooth and clear.

Darquesse was tempted to throw some of the flames at the still-motionless Skulduggery. At least that would put him into action- she hoped. Tilting her head to the side, Darquesse let the flames retract from around her body so that all she was holding was a simple fireball.

She hurled it at the skeleton.

He let out an angry cry and jumped to his feet, using his water manipulation to douse the fire. Darquesse grinned. 'Fight back,' she challenged.

'Not until you give me the answers I asked for.' Skulduggery countered.

She narrowed her eyes, then sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. 'Then I suppose neither of us are going to get what we want, are we? Tell you what. I'll answer your questions, if you fight me. In your armour. What do you say?'

Skulduggery paused; he actually looked like he was considering the offer. 'And you'll answer my questions honestly?' he asked.

Darquesse grinned. 'My dear, would I lie to you?'

'Why did you kill those people?'

She curled her lip. 'Of all the questions to start with...' she rolled her eyes. 'I was bored.'

'So you decided to go out and kill people to ease that boredom?'

'I like to be entertained. Are we done now?'

'Not quite.' Skulduggery said, sitting down again. Darquesse's eyes narrowed dangerously; if he was sitting down, then that meant that he was planning on asking questions for a long time. That just wasn't acceptable. 'How exactly are you taking over Valkyrie's mind?'

'It's easy.' Darquesse shrugged. 'I have the weakest of minds. It's easy to let my _bad mood_ take over, and then... here I am. Of course, you should know all this- isn't it what happens when you let Lord Vile take over?'

'Sounds like a similar process,' the skeleton admitted. 'Next question. Why do you want to kill the world?'

'For the same reason that you do, my dear Lord Vile,' Darquesse purred.

Skulduggery remained unimpressed. 'A straight answer would be lovely, considering that I'm about to let you demolish me in a fight just for a few questions.'

Darquesse's smile fell. 'What, you're not going to fight back?' she asked, genuinely disappointed.

'My armour is gone, remember? I can't.'

'That's a lie and you know it,' Darquesse smiled. 'Your armour is right...' she leaned forward and tapped her index finger against his skull, '_here_.'

He stiffened when she touched him, and then, suddenly, a gloved hand wrapped around her wrist and knocked her backwards. Darquesse grinned as she skidded into the door. 'That's more like it.' she murmured.

Lord Vile's armour started forming, wrapping first around Skulduggery's torso, then around his arms, his legs, his wrists. Spikes shot out of each piece. The process was complete with the helmet and boots.

Darquesse laughed and clapped her hands together. 'Beautiful!' she exclaimed.

A wave of shadows suddenly came slamming into her. It took a lot of strength, but Darquesse managed to remain standing under the torrent. She knew what this was. Lord Vile was testing her- testing her powers.

Darquesse liked to impress.

All traces of Skulduggery Pleasant seemed to be gone from this magnificent being in front of her.

He started to send another wave of shadows toward her, but Darquesse blocked it with her own dark tendrils.

'Is that all you got?' she mocked. The shadows stopped, so she retracted her own, and was instantly met with a punch in the face. The spikes on the knuckles of Vile's armour pierced Darquesse's cheek, and his fist was returned to him covered in her blood.

Darquesse lifted a delicate hand to her wound, then took it away to look at the blood. An injury... fascinating. She healed the cheek quickly, letting the tissue and blood restore before allowing the skin to knit back together.

Good as new.

She lashed out with a kick to the jaw, putting all of her strength into that one move. Had Vile had a brain to knock out, it would be through the roof right now. He didn't even let out so much as a grunt as he staggered back. Darquesse was merciless with her kicks- she directed another one at his chest, and another at his stomach, then another at his jaw. Her next kick, however, was blocked by a hand wrapping around her ankle and flipping her through the air and onto her stomach. She rolled onto her back immediately before jumping to her feet. She swung a punch that hit Vile in the side of the face.

There was the sound of frantic banging at the door, of Skulduggery's name being shouted, of Valkyrie's name being shouted, but Darquesse and Vile ignored it all. They were both engrossed in the game, fascinated with their partners.

Vile's hands pressed into Darquesse's face, his thumbs making their ways to her eyeballs. He pressed- hard. Darquesse managed to slap one of the hands away, but the other stayed pressing into her left eyeball, pressing harder and harder until the eyeball burst in a mass of blood and jelly. It ran down Darquesse's face, but it didn't faze her. She couldn't feel pain... her pain switch was flipped to _off_. Darquesse experimentally flipped it to _on_... and immediately cried out. This... this was pain? It was horrible, and yet fascinating at the same time. Without realizing it, Darquesse started screaming, covering her now-empty eye socket with her hands, waving her arms frantically. When she was finally able to gather her thoughts, she automatically flipped the switch back to _off_.

A fascinating experience... but not one she was going to repeat again.

With a bit of easy healing, the vision in her left eye went from nothing to blurry to perfect. Better than her right eye, in fact. To compensate, Darquesse sharpened the vision in that eye, too.

The shouting and banging had increased. Still, neither of the fighters noticed.

'Oh, you're a good one,' Darquesse smirked, pushing Lord Vile to the ground. 'But you're going to have to do better than that.'

Still, Vile had nothing to say to that. Either that, or his helmet was preventing him from talking... Darquesse hoped it was the latter. Not that she cared, but she liked to think that if Vile could talk to her, he would.

Her foot went stomping onto his leg, then his stomach, then his chest. Her foot was heading towards his head when he rolled out of the way, to his feet and came behind her. Next thing Darquesse knew, _she_ was the one on the ground. Growling slightly, she wrapped her feet around his legs and pulled him down on top of her, before wrapping her legs around his waist and flipping them so that _she_ was on top of _him_. And then, they were flying.

They flew threw the incredibly thick wall with ease, their combined strength causing the thick material- steel? Concrete? Iron?- to break into pieces. The fresh air enveloped them, and the strong wind caused Valkyrie's hair to whip around her face. She flew them higher, higher into the air, and all the while Vile tried to push her off him. With a smirk, she obliged. Her legs unwound themselves from around his waist and she pushed herself further into the air.

He, of course, had his own flying powers, and followed her easily through the air.

Darquesse turned back to him with a grin and a small wave before looking back in front of her. The thrill of flying was wonderful. Darquesse laughed and did a small twirl in the air, swerving deftly out of the way of birds and even the odd plane.

'This is fun, don't you think?' she shouted to Vile.

No reply.

'Not very talkative, are you?'

Vile's answer didn't change.

'They'll probably be wondering what the hell is going on,' Darquesse continued anyway, referring, of course, to their dear old friends back at the Sanctuary. 'Nice of them to pair us up together, wasn't it?'

A sudden weight ploughed into her from behind, actually catching Darquesse by surprise. Vile pulled her body towards him until he was holding her below him, and then they were falling, right down towards the ground- with Darquesse currently in the position of being Lord Vile's safety pillow.

With almost a sense of desperation, Darquesse tried once more to wrap her legs around his waist and flip their positions, but they'd hit the ground before she had the chance.

****HL****

Eyes closed, Darquesse checked the damage. She could feel the blood leaking across her skull, across her torso, across almost every inch of her skin. She could feel the bruises start to form on her brain, and the punctures ripping through her lungs.

She decided to heal her brain first. Couldn't do much thinking without that. She managed to lift an arm to hold her hair safely out the way so it couldn't get caught as the hole in her head healed over. Next, she healed her heart, then her lungs, then her face, then the rest of her body. It was easy, and took less than thirty seconds.

Darquesse stood.

Her eyes darted over to Vile's still form- obviously, he was healing himself, too. Although, really, it shouldn't be taking him this long- all he had to heal was bones.

She looked away and saw a taxi driver getting out of his cab, staring at the pair of them. Not screaming. Not running away. Not demanding an answer. Just staring... as if he was expecting an explanation. Darquesse's eyes narrowed. She didn't like that. Didn't like him. She was just starting towards him, flame ready to burn his heart out, when hands grabbed her waist from behind and slammed her into the ground.

A snarl crossed her face. Yes, this was the best and most challenging fight she'd ever had... but it was also one that she was worried she might not _win_. Darquesse liked winning; she liked it a lot. The very thought of not winning, of _losing, _made her angry. She leapt to her feet and hurled shadows at Vile. He was knocked backwards for a second, but he quickly recovered and started blocking her attack with shadows of his own.

The taxi-driver man _did_ let out a scream now. He ran down the street, away from the fighting pair. Good. Darquesse hadn't liked him or the distraction he'd provided.

Her elbow jammed into Vile's ribs, but he wasn't fazed. His open palm smacked her hard over the head. Darquesse barely blinked.

Her hand shot out, clawing at the armour, trying to get it off. How tough would he be without it? Her fingers had just latched around one of the edges, was just starting to pull it away, when a flame was thrown into her face. She staggered back, quickly healing the burn on her face.

Vile was starting toward her again when she held out a hand. 'Stop.' she said. Her voice was quiet, but then, Darquesse didn't need to speak loudly in order to be heard. She was only mildly surprised when Vile stopped and just stood there, looking at her.

'That was good,' Darquesse said slowly. 'That was fun. You're a good opponent. But you know what? I think we should leave it there and call it a tie. We can carry on another time, right?'

Silence was her response.

She rolled her eyes. 'Talk. Really. Your silence is getting boring.'

'Valkyrie.' the strained whisper made Darquesse straighten up and stare right at Vile- or was he Skulduggery again?

'Yes?' she asked softly.

'Let her... out...' armour-clad hands went to Vile's chest and started taking pieces of the spiked armour.

'Mm. Maybe.' Darquesse sighed. 'How about we go back and kill that taxi driver, huh? For good friend's sake.'

'Val-'

'Yes, yes, I know.' Darquesse waved a hand impatiently. 'You want Valkyrie back, blah, blah.'

The last piece of armour came off. It fell to the floor, and then just... disintegrated.

Darquesse pursed her lips. 'My turn?'

'Do me a favour and don't tell anyone about that.' Skulduggery said quietly after a pause. 'For... for good friend's sake.'

Darquesse grinned. 'Believe me, I can keep a secret. But... do I want to?'

There was the sound of shouting in the distance. Familiar voices, shouting their names. Darquesse's grin widened and she pressed a finger to her lips, winking at Skulduggery. Then she sank into the shadows of the building and disappeared into the night.

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Darquesse has gone AWOL! Just kidding. No she hasn't. She's still here... somewhere.  
>Hope you liked the chapter! :D I'm very hyper at the moment, and that hyperness is paired with frustration at my internet connection, because it keeps flickering on and off... like Darquesse's pain switch, I guess.<br>Anyway. I'm back from my school retreat feeling uplifted and stuff, so here's an update!  
>Also, if you're wondering why I haven't updated any of my stories lately, please visit my profile. I have a reasonably decent excuse posted there. ;)<br>HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! This chapter is a red rose to all of you guys, which makes me feel nice, because, as expected, I got nothing. Anyone got any lovely romantic Valentine's stories for me? :)  
>Keep on reviewing! And being awesome!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	31. The Kiss

**Chapter 31. **

Skulduggery was left staring after Darquesse.

'Skulduggery!' the voice of Erskine Ravel was shouting. 'Oh, thank god you're all right! We thought something might have... _are_ you all right?'

Skulduggery was quiet for a few seconds. 'She got away,' he said finally, his skull swivelling towards the Grand Mage and the group of worried sorcerers he was with.

'Darquesse? She got away?' Blade asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

'What the hell happened?' Tanith asked with wide eyes, glancing around at the ruined street.

'We... had a fight.' Skulduggery said after a slight hesitation. He couldn't very well tell them the truth...

Now they were all staring at him, their eyes widened comically. 'And you didn't get annihilated within the first few seconds?' Hades asked, disbelief etched into every word.

'It's a long story.' the skeleton sighed.

'Do you have any idea where she might have gone?' Erskine asked urgently, his head whipping around as if, with some luck, he might see Darquesse standing right behind him.

'No.' Skulduggery adjusted his gloves on his hand. 'I am sorry, Erskine. This plan has gone horribly wrong.'

'It's not your fault.' the Grand Mage rubbed his temples as if he had a horrible headache. 'What did she say to you, before you started fighting?'

'She seemed... angry. When she first woke up, she was snarling and growling. She broke out of the chains effortlessly. Valkyrie didn't appear even once... it's getting serious. Valkyrie has been repressing Darquesse for all these years, and now that she's finally broke out, she doesn't want to go back into the corner of Valkyrie's mind.'

'You say that like they're two different people.' Willow said quietly, looking upset. 'Like they have separate minds. But... Valkyrie told me the other day that she and Darquesse were the same person.'

'Well, they are. They aren't separate entities at all.'

The younger girl frowned. 'I don't understand.'

'I wouldn't expect you to. It's really rather complicated... let's go back to the Sanctuary and assess the damage that's been done, shall we?'

With that, the skeleton detective started striding away at a pace that the others needed to power-walk to match.

****HL****

'I know where she is,' Slash said, his eyes closed and his hands clasped together and pressed against his mouth. 'I can track her, I can feel her presence walking the earth. But what annoys me is that I can't act on it... we've already figured out that brute force won't work, and, apparently, neither will kidnapping. So now what?'

'I'm stuck for ideas.' Sanguine admitted, twiddling with his tie. He turned to look at Scapegrace. 'How 'bout you, zombie? Any ideas?'

'No.' Scapegrace shook his head in typical slow zombie fashion.

'Useless hunk o' meat.' Sanguine muttered. He then looked at Stephanie. 'How 'bout you, doll face? Nothing?'

Stephanie stayed quiet for a moment. She looked at Slash, then at Scapegrace, then at Sanguine. 'How did you lure Darquesse out last time?' she asked.

'I kicked her repeatedly,' Slash answered gruffly. 'Then she just snapped.'

'What were you thinking while you did this?' the emotionless girl asked.

'How much... how much I wanted to kill her.' the scarred man admitted. 'But we've already gathered that brute force won't work a second time. She'll be expecting it, for a starter. And plus, it was only by accident that we managed to get her into that kind of position in the first place.'

'Where is she now?' Stephanie continued, ignoring the last part.

'She's...' Slash took on a look of concentration, then frowned. 'She's coming our way. She's coming our way! Right towards us... like she's trying to get to us.'

Sanguine immediately jumped to his feet, as did Slash. Scapegrace flailed about on the floor for a few seconds before he finally managed to stand up, and Stephanie rose slowly and carelessly.

'Do you think she knows that we're here?' Sanguine asked in a slightly worried voice. This was, after all, Valkyrie Cain-slash-Darquesse. One side of her was the teenage girl who seemed to foil every single one of his plans, the other side was the psychopathic killer of the world. It was hardly likely that she would visit them for a cup of tea and some biscuits, Stephanie thought.

'Perhaps,' Slash frowned. 'Either way, she's hardly going to be visiting for a cup of tea and some biscuits.'

Stephanie smiled; Slash had echoed her thoughts almost exactly.

'What do we do?' Scapegrace asked, obviously in a panic.

'Calm down,' Slash growled at him, 'and shut up.'

Slash Furious was not pleased at all with Vaurien Scapegrace; when he'd said that he was going to get a zombie on the team, it was clear that his intention had been to get a smart, brain-eating zombie who would kill anything or anyone in its path. Not an idiotic, sluggish, decomposing corpse with an annoying habit of failing anything that he attempts.

'Sorry, Master.' Scapegrace whimpered, looking at the ground.

****HL****

Darquesse smiled as she approached the old Haggard warehouse. She knew for a fact that Slash Furious and his buddies were in there, and she wanted to... speak with them.

The large warehouse doors came off their hinges too easily; all it took was a firm push, and they'd gone flying through the corridor.

_The world is so weak, _Darquesse mused. _It's pathetic. _

She listens carefully, hears the sound of hushed whispers, of frantic discussions. She knows where they are. Two corridors in, first door on the left. In the old boiler room of the abandoned warehouse. It didn't take Darquesse long to get there. She threw the door open and marched in, smirk on her face.

'Hello,' she greeted. 'I'm here because there's been a reported _vermin_ problem. I'm going to take care of it.'

Slash Furious' eyes widened, and he breathed, 'Darquesse.'

Something akin to awe was shining in each of their eyes, apart from the reflection's. Darquesse's eyes narrowed when she saw her reflection; of course. It was a reasonable explanation. To have some of the information they'd had, they'd need someone close to Valkyrie- even closer than Tanith. The reflection would be the first person they'd go to.

Valkyrie, had she been in this situation, would have felt betrayed. Darquesse, however, merely took pleasure in the fact that she got to dispose of it.

'I would say I'm pleased to meet you properly, but... I'm _not_.' a charming smile flashed across her face. 'Now. That vermin problem...'

Darquesse stuck her hand out, and a wave of darkness knocked them all to their feet. Which one to kill first? Maybe all of them at the same time... but Darquesse knew one thing.

She was saving Slash Furious for last.

'No! Wait! We- we were helpin' you!' Sanguine gasped desperately as Darquesse, after making her decision, started stalking towards him. 'We were tryin' to bring you out- please don't kill me!'

A fire started in Darquesse's palm- Sanguine, seeming unable to help himself, let out a low, frightened moan.

'Let's get started.' Darquesse smiled, and, with a flick of her wrist, shadows were in front of the door, blocking any escape.

The Texan's was a simple death, really. Burned to death? Hardly original. Hardly special. But, still, it was fun to hear his drawn-out screams as Darquesse burned him from the feet up.

Next was Scapegrace. The pathetic zombie who always got in the way. His expression was one of terror as Darquesse advanced upon him. She placed her hands gently on either side of his head, watched as confusion was added to the mix of emotions on his face, and then squeezed. The crack of his skull resounded throughout the room. She kept applying pressure, until blood and brain was oozing through the gaps in her fingers and Scapegrace was completely dead, for definite this time. He wouldn't be coming back any time soon.

Slowly, oh so dramatically, Darquesse turned to her reflection. Her expression was neutral, her eyes calm.

'You can't kill me,' she stated flatly, 'you told me four years ago to resume your life and be a good daughter to your parents. If you kill me now, then they'll think _you're_ dead, too. They'll be distraught.'

'And, funnily enough, I don't care.' Darquesse smirked. 'I can be a good enough daughter to them.'

'I'm not sure they want a psychopath for a daughter.' the reflection retorted.

Darquesse let out a laugh. 'Then why do they still keep you around? Really, I thought reflection's just didn't _care_ enough to get involved with an evil let's-bring-about-the-end-of-the-world group. What makes you any different?'

'They came to _me_.' the reflection gestured to Slash, who seemed to be frozen with fear.

_The poor dear, _Darquesse thought, tilting her head to the side, _this isn't turning out how he wanted it to. Too bad. _

'Slashy, dear, were you really _that_ desperate?' Darquesse mocked. She looked back to the reflection.

'Anyway,' Darquesse's mirror-image continued, 'you _can't_ kill me. I'm a reflection. I can't die, not properly.'

'Fair point.' Darquesse shrugged. Then she felt something... a buzz, at the back of her mind. Her lip curled; what was that? Something was telling her what to do... something persistent in the back of her mind. Should she obey it? Maybe yes... just to see what would happen. With narrowed eyes, Darquesse continued, 'Go back to our parents. Do what I asked you to do four years ago...'

The reflection was quiet for a few seconds. She looked at Slash, then at Darquesse, then at the door. Like a silent request.

Darquesse swiped her hand, and the shadows dispersed. More slowly than Darquesse would have liked, the reflection walked towards the door, and then left.

As she had expected, Slash made a bolt, too. Darquesse grabbed him by the back of the collar and hauled him back, then lowered herself so her face was inches from his. 'You're not leaving,' she murmured. 'No, there's even more fun in store for you. Now... shall we start with the spine?'

****HL** **

_Now where to go? _Darquesse asked herself as she walked away from the warehouse, already growing bored with the lack of activity. Now that they were all taken care of... what could she do?

Maybe go back to the Sanctuary, to play with Skulduggery further. Or maybe to play with that little group of hers...

Yes. That was a good idea. It would entertain Darquesse, at least for a little while. It wouldn't take her _that_ long to walk to the Sanctuary from Haggard... with her powerful legs, it would take something like ten minutes.

And ten minutes is what it did take- Darquesse was barely out of breath when she arrived at the Sanctuary. She pushed the double doors open and strolled in, smile wide on her face. She looked at all of the sorcerers who walked through the corridors... weak and simple. Every last one of them.

Darquesse knew there were charred patches on her clothes from when she killed Sanguine, and that she was splattered with blood and various other bodily fluids from when she killed everyone else. But she didn't care. What did it matter to Darquesse if sorcerers she didn't know or care about, and that she would eventually end up killing anyway, looked at her strangely?

She knew where Skulduggery and the others would be. In the Grand Mage's office- probably talking about her.

Like they'd be talking about anything else. Darquesse smiled. She _did_ like to make a lasting impression.

When she reached the Grand Mage's office, Darquesse paused, and then pressed her ear against the door.

'We'll send out some Cleavers to look for her,' the voice of Erskine Ravel said tiredly.

'No use,' retorted the voice of Skulduggery. 'She'll kill them all without blinking.'

'Then what do you suggest we do, Skulduggery? Because I'm out of ideas.' Erskine said, rather harshly. Darquesse raised an eyebrow, and then, in typical dramatic fashion, pushed the door open and entered.

A coy smile played at her lips. 'Miss me?' she asked teasingly.

They were all on their feet, all in fighting stances. Suddenly, a misty blue wall was standing between Darquesse and the rest of them. Hades had put up a shield.

'Don't worry- I won't hurt you.' she assured them, putting a hand on the hip. 'But take that shield down before I take it down for you. I prefer to see the people I'm talking to.'

'And how do we know you're telling the truth? You're not very reliable.' Hades pointed out, still holding up his shield.

'Because if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. If I wanted you hurt, you'd already be in an ambulance.' Darquesse waited a few seconds for Hades to take down the blue wall; when he didn't, she rolled her eyes, opened her palm and then squeezed it shut. The shield dissolved into a cloud of blue mist, leaving Hades staring wide-eyed.

'How did you do that?' he asked.

'I have my ways.' Darquesse grinned. 'Aren't you pleased to see me?' she looked at Skulduggery. 'How about you, Vi- _Skulduggery_?' she corrected herself with a wink.

'Give Valkyrie back.' Blade said, almost pleadingly. 'Please. You've played around long enough; now it's Valkyrie's turn to live.'

The smile fell from Darquesse's face and turned to a cold glare, as she allowed dark tendrils to rise threateningly behind her. 'I _am_ Valkyrie.'

'No, you're not.' Blade shook his head, seeming unfazed. 'Valkyrie is the brave, kind-hearted woman who we all love. You're just... you're just an echo.'

'You don't want to offend me.' Darquesse warned.

'Blade-' Hades started, only to be interrupted by Willow stopping him.

'Just give her back,' Blade continued. 'And go away.'

It's funny, how anger works. One minute Darquesse was feeling playful and powerful, and the next, her blood felt like it was boiling and she wanted to smash Blade Koldo into a wall.

So she did. She splayed her hand out in front of her and used her air manipulation to send Blade flying back against the far wall.

The rest of the room broke out into action immediately.

Hades came running at her, his expression one of fury. His fingers went to his shoulder, and Darquesse smiled again when she realized that he had used a symbol to knock her backwards.

Ah, the anger of a caring brother. It was so righteous, so instinctive. It fascinated Darquesse that someone could get this sense of anger merely from watching a loved one get hurt. But then, she- or rather, Valkyrie- had felt this often, hadn't she? She would just need to look deep into her mind to examine it further.

Darquesse leapt to her feet and held out an arm to block the blow that Hades delivered. She summoned the shadows, used them to flip Hades backwards in the air.

Suddenly, Darquesse felt herself moving again. She was being lifted... lifted into the air. Willow. A delighted laugh escaped her lips as her centre of gravity was moved to the ceiling. 'Wonderful,' she murmured brightly. She did a forward roll on the ceiling to dodge the fireball that Hazel threw at her, and another to dodge the one from Maddox.

'Haven't I taught you anything?' she asked them mockingly. 'Surely you can do better than that.'

She dropped from the ceiling. She managed to twirl in the air as she fell, allowing her to land on her feet.

A silver dagger went flying through the air towards her; Darquesse caught it by the handle, the blade just inches from her right eye. She hurled it back towards Blade, who managed to roll out of the way just before it stabbed into the wall behind him.

Darquesse took her staff from her pocket. She twirled it once in her hand before using it to knock Erskine over the head, before he managed to use air manipulation to take all her oxygen away.

Suddenly, Darquesse felt something cold being pressed to the back of her neck. A smooth, velvety voice murmured, 'Stop.'

Darquesse smirked. 'But I'm having so much fun...' then she chuckled. 'A gun, Skul? How drab.'

'That's enough, now. Why did you come back?' Skulduggery asked.

She sighed. 'I was bored. Do you mind taking your gun off my neck now?'

Darquesse turned around to face him. 'What do you say to another round of our fight?' she offered.

'Not today,' Skulduggery replied.

'Valkyrie...' a voice said from behind them. Darquesse turned and rolled her eyes at Blade.

'Will you give that up already? We've already gathered that-'

Darquesse was interrupted by a pair of lips crushing themselves against hers. She felt a strange feeling rise through her; a strange, unfamiliar feeling. Surprise? She barely had time to register this before she felt herself let go, and suddenly, Darquesse was gone.

Valkyrie's eyes widened in surprise. Blade... was kissing her. What the hell? That was certainly... unexpected. But... it felt nice. It felt _nice, _having Blade kiss her like this. Then, he pulled away slowly, and Valkyrie found that she couldn't move. She felt weak. The memories of what had happened before the kiss, and the kiss itself, flooded through her, and she felt her legs give out.

Blade caught her before she fell to the ground, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

'This... this changes everything, doesn't it?' she asked.

'What? The kiss, or the fact that you just went psychopathic and attacked us all?' Blade asked, a small smile on his face.

Valkyrie closed her eyes. 'Both.'

**A/N: I love writing Darquesse, I really do. Can you tell? ):D Am I doing her justice, do you guys think? I'm taking inspiration from Katherine from The Vampire Diaries and Irene Adler from Sherlock. Or should I re-read Death Bringer so that I can get her personality better?  
>Oh, and here's a nice little treat for all of you, but especially for the lovely reviewer <span>Georgia<span>, as it's her birthday on the 23rd- you're getting another chapter on the 23rd February! :D I'll be sure to make it my best work. Thank you for the amazing review, Georgia, and I'm so glad you like the story!  
>And thank you for <span>everyone's<span> kind reviews, too! :D It really makes me happy when I open my emails and see reviews for this story... hint, hint. ;)  
>Hope you liked the chapter- I couldn't resist adding romance at the end! Do you like Valkyrie and Blade together? How will Fletcher react? WILL WE EVER SEE FLETCHER AGAIN? (Yes, we will- I'm figuring out how to write him into the next chapter as we speaktype/whatever.)  
>Oh, and please let me know- would you prefer it if Willow continued to chase after Erskine, or if she got together with Hadessome other character? Your opinions make this story, so please let me know!  
>See you on the 23rd!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	32. An Interesting Conversation

**Chapter 32. **

No one spoke. The whole room was filled with a tense, heavy silence, that was only broken by the sound of a heavy sigh or a clearing of the throat.

Valkyrie's eyes stayed glued to the floor of Erskine's office- the floor which, to her dismay, had small cracks in it from when Darquesse had been throwing people around the place. As did the walls. And the ceiling. Valkyrie cringed just thinking about it; would they ever forgive her for attacking them? Would they ever be able to trust her again? Had she just thrown away their trust?

Valkyrie didn't know what everyone else in the room was doing, apart from that most of them were fidgeting. Skulduggery wasn't, of course. He remained calm and composed, as ever. The only movement he made was to drum his fingers impatiently against the side of his chair, just to make a point.

Valkyrie finally glanced up from the floor and scanned over the room and its occupants. Erskine was sat at his desk, mouth set into a hard line, knuckles pressed against it so hard that they were turning white. Skulduggery, Tanith, Ghastly, Valkyrie and her group were all sat on chairs around the edge of the room. Valkyrie looked over, once again, at Blade. This time, he was staring back at her. She tried to offer him a reassuring smile, but was pretty sure that it came out as more of a grimace. He smiled back, then mouthed, '_Say something_.'

Say something? Like what? _Well, hi, guys. Sorry I just beat you all up. Blade, I'm sorry I threw a dagger at your head. Hades, I'm sorry I sent you flipping into the air. Erskine, I'm sorry I hit you over the head with my staff. Everyone, I'm sorry I mocked you. And, finally, I'm sorry that me and Blade just kind of threw off the whole group dynamic by kissing. On the bright side, though, it shocked the hell out of Darquesse. _That would be a long, dragged out apology. It would probably do more harm than good. Valkyrie shook her head slightly at Blade, mouthing, '_What do I say_?'

He then shrugged and mouthed something back, but Valkyrie couldn't understand it. She frowned, then sighed and shook her head again, looking away.

A comforting squeeze on the shoulder surprised Valkyrie. She glanced at Hazel with a raised eyebrow; the other girl just smiled back. 'Before you try and apologize,' she murmured quietly, 'know that I forgive you anyway.'

The huge smile didn't have to be forced onto Valkyrie's face; in fact, she had to struggle to keep it from splitting her cheeks in two. 'Thank you, Hazel.' she replied sincerely. 'That means a lot.'

'I forgive you, too.' Maddox said from beside Hazel.

'Me, too.' Willow said after only a slight hesitation.

'I don't need to tell you that I do, but I am anyway.' Blade smiled _that_ crooked smile.

'Naturally, I can forgive you, since I am a forgiving person.' Skulduggery said smoothly. Valkyrie rolled her eyes playfully at him.

'Forgive you? Yeah.' Tanith smirked.

'Yes.' Ghastly said simply.

Erskine paused for a few seconds, then sighed. 'This might be the growth you produced on the inside of my brain talking, but yes, I forgive you, too.'

Valkyrie smiled sheepishly.

Hades gave a small grunt, but then grinned. 'I guess I can forgive you. You were pretty bad ass'

Valkyrie arched an eyebrow. 'Really?' she looked at them all. 'You can all forgive me? Just like that?'

'No harm was done.' Maddox shrugged.

Erskine cleared his throat and gestured to the nasty bruise forming on the side of his head. Valkyrie winced; Hades laughed. 'Sorry,' Valkyrie said.

'No _serious_ harm was done,' Willow amended Maddox's statement, with just the slightest grin on her face.

'Can you forgive us for conspiring against you and locking you in a room, therefore forcing Darquesse out of you?' Tanith asked.

'Eh, my beating you up makes us even, I guess.' Valkyrie gave a cheeky grin. She was genuinely glad that they were actually talking now, rather than sitting in an awkward silence, constantly waiting for one of them to say something, anything. It seemed, however, that everyone was pretending that a certain kiss had never happened.

'I didn't do anything irreparable, did I?' Valkyrie asked seriously, looking at Erskine.

He shifted. 'I'm not sure what I can do about my brain, but-'

'I was talking about the room. Did I do anything irreparable to the room?'

Erskine frowned. 'No, everything can be fixed with ease. But really, about my head-'

'Everything's fine, then.' Valkyrie smiled happily.

'I'm glad that the Grand Mage's well-being is of such concern to everyone.'

Skulduggery waved a gloved hand dismissively. 'Grand Mage's come and go. This room, though, is one of a kind. Many a good things have happened in this room.'

Erskine raised an eyebrow. 'Like...?'

'It marks the place in which we-'

'Ah! Crap!' Valkyrie's sudden exclamation seemed to take everyone by surprise.

Skulduggery swivelled his skull toward her, his eye sockets staring right at her. 'That was rather rude,' he remarked. 'What's wrong?'

'Slash and Sanguine and the others!' Valkyrie slapped a hand to her forehead. 'Oh, god!'

'What?' Ghastly asked, 'What happened?'

'I-' Valkyrie cringed. 'Kind of killed them.'

There was a pause. Then, Blade said slowly, 'You... killed them?'

'Yes.'

'Just like that?'

'Yes.'

'Well, at least that takes care of one problem.' Skulduggery said. 'I think we've solved the case of the playing card murders... it was fairly obvious, actually, now that you think about it.'

'Wasn't it?' Valkyrie murmured. Then she sighed. 'But I let the reflection go.'

'What? Why?' Tanith asked with a frown on her lovely face. 'And please don't say that you had a rare moment of conscious when you were about to kill her.'

'Reflections can't die, remember?' Valkyrie reminded them.

'They also said that Remnants can't leave people who they've been bonded with for more then four days.' Tanith smiled a crinkle-eyed smile. 'Remember that.'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'You should be happy that I killed one less person.'

'It doesn't count as a person.' Skulduggery said, surprising, Valkyrie assumed, everyone with his cold voice.

Valkyrie frowned confusedly at him. '… Right.' she said, staring for a moment before looking away. 'What now?'

'What do you mean, what now?' Erskine asked, getting up from his chair. 'I'm going to get my head looked at, you're going to do whatever you want- apart from, you know, kill people. That would be bad.'

'Message received.' Valkyrie muttered, looking down. Then she looked back at the Grand Mage with a smirk. 'You're overreacting a little about that head, aren't you?'

'It really does hurt.'

'You fought in a war, man.'

'That doesn't lessen the pain.'

Valkyrie grinned at him, and he smiled back. Then his eyes moved to Valkyrie's right, and the smile dropped. 'Be right back.' he mumbled, leaving quickly.

There was a sigh from Valkyrie's right, and she looked at Willow questioningly. 'Long story,' the red-headed girl said.

Valkyrie understood at once.

****HL** **

Stephanie finished off the last bit of mashed potato on her plate and then excused herself from the dinner table.

'You were hungry,' Mrs Edgely remarked. 'You haven't left a scrap.'

'It was a long day.' Stephanie smiled, then stood up. 'I have a lot of studying to do.'

'Studying?' Mr Edgely asked, raising his eyebrows and grinning. 'Finally considering moving to uni and leaving our house?'

'Maybe.' Stephanie answered, taking it all in good humour because that's what Valkyrie would have done.

Mrs Edgely swatted her husband on the arm. 'Oi, don't say things like that. You'll regret them when it's finally time for her to go.'

'I am very sorry for any offence I may have just caused,' Mr Edgely muttered, rubbing his arm and giving Mrs Edgely a wounded look. She simply turned to Alice and started to coo to the four year old, who looked slightly confused as to why her mother was making strange noises.

Stephanie left the room and made her way upstairs, up to her own bedroom. She enjoyed living in this house- but something was wrong. There was something strange in the pit of her stomach- emotion? Maybe it was too much of a shock, seeing those people die in front of her today. By now, Stephanie knew that she wasn't a normal reflection. She was special, and she always saw that as a good thing, not bad.

Frowning, she pressed a hand to her stomach. It felt like that emotion which Valkyrie used to feel- sadness. But Stephanie hadn't cared about any of those in her group... with the exception, maybe, of Slash. He had shown a special liking to Stephanie from the start, and had provided her with the great challenge of trying to figure out his past life. Now that he was dead, there would be nothing interesting to do.

And Stephanie _still _hadn't figured him out.

She looked over at the mirror hanging up in the wardrobe. What would happen if she stepped inside it now? Nothing, of course. To be fully retreated back into the mirror, Stephanie would need to have Valkyrie touch it and absorb all her memories. Four years worth of memories... how would that feel for Valkyrie? Would Stephanie ever get the chance to know, or would Valkyrie never again let her out of the mirror?  
>Why was she even thinking about this? It was hardly as if Stephanie <em>wanted<em> to go back into the mirror. She quite liked being out and free.

She sat on her bed, tying her hair up into a long ponytail and lying back against the pillows. There was a lot to think about- the deaths of her 'friends', the revelation of Darquesse, the whole complex matter of emotion.

The deaths hadn't traumatised Stephanie- no, that would be silly. She- or rather, Valkyrie- had seen far too much death and destruction in her life time to be bothered by their deaths, even with some of them being as gruesome as they were. But she supposed that it really did make her feel... _sad_. She had spent the past two years growing somewhat attached to these people, learning to trust and work with them as allies. It wasn't a nice feeling, knowing that she would never work with them again. What would Stephanie do with her time now?

Darquesse herself didn't scare Stephanie, either. Why should she? Stephanie had seen it all before. Darquesse couldn't harm her, or kill her. Stephanie would feel nothing, and so, really, it would be a waste of a killing. It did, however, worry Stephanie slightly that Darquesse was meant to be the one to kill her parents. If Stephanie had grown to love anyone, she had grown to love her parents. Maybe it was her own feelings for them combined with Valkyrie's, but she knew one thing for sure: she did not want them to die any time soon. As long as Valkyrie could keep Darquesse away, at least while they were still alive, things would be fine, though, wouldn't they?

Emotion. That was one thing that did scare Stephanie. Emotion was dangerous; emotion got you nowhere in life. Already, Stephanie had sacrificed some of her own safety by letting herself grow to care for her family and feel saddened by the forced separation of their little group. What if someone learned of it, and used it against her? Okay, granted, Stephanie didn't know many people who wanted her dead... but what if they used her parents against Valkyrie? Tried to kill them, to get to Valkyrie? What then? Stephanie would be sad, very sad indeed. It wouldn't be her fault, of course... she wouldn't be the one to get her parents killed, after all. It would be Valkyrie's fault, for getting so many people to hate her.

Realizing that this was something that could actually happen, Stephanie frowned even deeper. Maybe the time would come when she would have to protect her parents. She knew how to fight fairly well- she had absorbed sixteen year-old Valkyrie's memories. But could she fight so well that she could fend of potential parent-killers on her own? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

That was a question that Stephanie hoped she would never get the answer to.

****HL** **

'Blade?' Valkyrie asked quietly, knocking on the door to his room. 'Can I talk to you for a second?'

'Uh, one minute.' came the reply, followed by the rustle of material. The door swung open a few seconds later, and there stood Blade, buttoning up a black dress shirt.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Were you sitting shirtless in your room?'

'It's a boy thing.'

'Clearly,' she murmured, pushing past him and flopping down onto his bed. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Blade.

'I already know why you're here- actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about it, too.'

Valkyrie looked and felt visibly relieved. 'Good. Blade, that kiss earlier... it shouldn't have happened.'

He faltered. 'What?'

'Well, it was great and everything- more than great, actually, it was wonderful- but... I treasure our friendship too much to just... throw it away. You know?'

'You think us seeing each other would ruin our friendship?' Blade asked, frowning. He sat next to Valkyrie on the bed and looked intently at her. 'I don't. I think it would only make us stronger.'

She shook her head. 'I don't want to risk it. We have a great friendship, Blade, you, me, and the rest of our group. What would the others think? I can't be the only one who noticed that our kiss was conveniently never brought up earlier today.'

'You weren't. I noticed, too.' Blade sighed. 'Maybe they just didn't want to make it feel awkward... look. Valkyrie. I've had feelings for you for a long time- I just didn't realize it until earlier, when you-'

'When I was freaking out and throwing a knife at your head?' Valkyrie frowned.

Blade hesitated. 'Well, yeah.'

'So you like it rough?' Valkyrie teased.

He stammered slightly when he said, 'I- well, it was just a moment of epiphany.'

'That makes total sense.'

'Stop being sarcastic,' he groaned. 'I'm trying to be serious here.'

'Right. Sorry.' Valkyrie nodded. 'Back to seriousness. Blade... whatever feelings you have for me... I'm sure they'll pass.'

'And I'm sure they won't.'

'I'm no good for you.'

'Please don't try to be the brooding loner type- it really, _really_ doesn't suit you.'

Valkyrie pursed her lips. 'Blade-'

The boy surprised her by taking her hands in his and staring intently at her. 'Don't tell me that you don't feel the same. I'm fully aware that you didn't pull away when I kissed you, when you had the perfect opportunity to.'

Ignoring the annoying blush that she felt rising in her cheeks, Valkyrie simply raised an eyebrow. 'Not taking no for an answer, are you?' she joked half-heartedly.

'No.' he replied seriously. 'I'm not.'

_Okay,_Valkyrie thought to herself, _maybe visiting him was a bad idea after all- oh, god, why is he staring at me like that? I don't know whether he's about to murder me or kiss... or kiss me... crap. _

The thought crossed her mind too late. Before she could stand up and run away, Blade's lips had, for the second time that way, planted themselves on hers, and he was kissing her with a gentleness that Valkyrie couldn't quite describe. An uncharacteristic whimper sounded in her throat... but she didn't pull away.

Blade was right. Valkyrie _did_ feel the same way. No matter how much she may try to hide or deny it, Valkyrie knew that she really, truly _did_ have romantic feelings for Blade.

She had no idea whether this was a good or bad thing.

Blade, once again, was the first to pull away. He smiled, his face still close to Valkyrie's. 'Still want me to leave you alone?' he asked teasingly.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'Oh, shut up,' she said, before cupping the back of Blade's neck and pulling him in for another kiss.

****HL** **

Dusk dropped down from the tree, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

Hmm. What an... _interesting_ conversation.

**A/N: YAY! Even I've been waiting for Vlade to get together. Is it vain of me to be in love with my own pairing? Oh, well- I am anyway.  
>And don't worry, Steph, all you need to do is read the sequel I have planned for this story, and all will be clear. ;) You can visit my profile for the deets.<br>Some self-advertisement for you there...  
>Oh, and I'm sorry that I didn't include Fletcher in this chapter. :( I couldn't fit him in. Sorry! Oh, and, the big event...<br>HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR* GEORGIA... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!  
>Happy birthday, Georgia! I hope this chapter was good enough, and that you'll forgive me for being late! :)<br>*Just thought I'd let you guys know that I looked over this chapter once it was published and saw that it said 'dead' instead of 'dear'. I had to change it, so it didn't look like I was predicting poor Georgia's death. Very sorry if you saw that.  
>Thank you for the reviews, alerts, favourites, whatever! I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little rushed and short- I had a history assessment to do, and I can honestly say that it took me six hours to handwrite those fifteen pages of voting in Germany...<br>Oh, and I'm sorry that I told a lie about Fletcher being in this chapter. :( I couldn't fit him in, sorry! And I am sorry that the update is so late in the day- Document Manager has been broken, I swear! :)  
>Most of all, thank you for reading! I've just seen that this story alone has had a huge (measured against nothing) one thousand hits. That makes me feel special. Thank you, all of you!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	33. China's Library

**Chapter 33. **

'Oh, Tanith, didn't you say you wanted to go see China?' Valkyrie asked, turning to look at the blonde. 'Why don't we go now?'

They- Valkyrie, Tanith, Ghastly and Skulduggery- were walking through Roarhaven, heading back to the Sanctuary after taking a short break from their non-existent duties.

Tanith nodded, grimacing. 'Oh, yeah. I need that book... well, I guess we'll have to put up with her self-righteousness if I want to get it. Let's go. Skul, Ghastly? Are you coming?'

Skulduggery had stopped walking at the mention of China, not moving a single bone. Valkyrie looked at him with a frown. 'Skulduggery?'

He didn't speak for a while, but when he did, his words were slow and cold. 'Go without me,' he said stiffly.

Ghastly sighed and put his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. 'Bad subject, Val,' he murmured to her out the corner of his mouth.

_Since when has China been a bad subject? _Valkyrie thought to herself, frown deepening. Something must have happened while she was gone... something which Skulduggery and Ghastly had somehow forgotten to tell her.

'What's wrong?' asked Tanith, putting a hand on Skulduggery's bony shoulder.

He lifted his skull, eye sockets burning into her face. 'Go without me,' he repeated, then he started striding briskly away, leaving the three friends standing there, confused. They all exchanged a look.

Valkyrie turned expectantly to Ghastly. 'Well?' she asked, raising an eyebrow and tapping her foot. 'What the _hell_ was that about?'

'While you two were gone... something happened. With Skulduggery and China,' Ghastly began, sounding uncomfortable.

Tanith's eyes widened. 'What, you mean- they- they...' she stammered, seeming unable to form her desired words.

Ghastly appeared to understand his girlfriend's meaning immediately, and he rolled his eyes at her. 'No, idiot, they didn't do anything _romantic_. The thing is... you know how the Serpine and his followers killed Skulduggery's family in front of him, all those years ago?'

Valkyrie winced just thinking about it, a feeling of dread suddenly pooling in her stomach. 'Yeah?' she asked cautiously. 'Please tell me China didn't have anything to do with that...'

'I'm afraid she did,' Ghastly sighed. 'She was the one who gathered them up and brought them to Serpine.'

'How do you know?' Tanith asked, her tone a mixture of anger and shock.

'Eliza Scorn told him. It was a few months after you both left, and... well, Skulduggery had gone to see China, and found her being beaten up pretty badly by Scorn on the street. He went in to stop Scorn, and got that bombshell dropped on him.'

_Poor Skulduggery_, Valkyrie thought, guilt filling her slowly. _He had to go through all that alone. I was so selfish to leave... _

'And... China... that really happened?' she asked, looking at Ghastly with semi-widened eyes. 'How do you know Scorn wasn't lying?'

'I know it's hard to take in, Valkyrie,' Ghastly said kindly, putting a hand on her shoulder in a similar fashion to how Tanith had put a hand on Skulduggery's, 'But you have to understand, China wasn't always the neutral woman she is today. She did used to be on the side of the Diablerie.'

'I knew we should never have trusted her,' Tanith muttered, eyes hard. 'Getting this book out is going to be hell.'

'What, you still want to go there?' asked Valkyrie, surprised.

'I need this book,' Tanith said, 'no matter who I need to get it from... even if I have to punch them in the face once or twice.'

'Make it three times, from me,' Ghastly smiled, pecking Tanith on the cheek and giving Valkyrie a sad smile before turning and walking in the same direction as Skulduggery.

'You still coming with me?' Tanith asked, turning to Valkyrie. 'I'll understand if you don't want to...'

'No, it's fine,' said Valkyrie. 'I want to come with you... maybe make it, you know, four punches,'

Tanith grinned. 'That's my girl.'

****HL****

When Tanith and Valkyrie arrived at the library, the first thing they saw was a chubby man on his knees in front of China, looking up at the stunning beauty with wide, tear-filled eyes and a look of awe on his face. 'Oh, please!' he begged pathetically, '_please_, Miss China, have mercy! Take pity on a selfish man!'

China looked coldly down at him, seeming to have barely noticed her two new guests. 'Stealing from me is not a habit I'd advise you to take up, Gaurelin.' she said, her voice a warning. 'Give it back, and I may consider letting you go,'

Valkyrie found that she was having to hold down feelings of deep attraction for her old ally, just like she had always needed to. She looked uncomfortably at Tanith out of the corner of her eye. The older woman rolled her eyes, glancing back at Valkyrie with pursed lips. '_Dramatic as ever,_' she mouthed to her.

Valkyrie grinned back, despite the situation.

'Oh, Miss China, thank you! I-'

'I said give it back first,' China said impatiently, holding her small hand out expectantly.

Immediately, the man- Gaurelin- reached into the inside of his jacket. His hand then emerged holding a dusty-looking book with a leather cover, the words _Precious Metals and Where to Find Them _carved onto the front. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. They really had that in a book?

'Thank you,' China said sweetly, her whole manner changed now that she had taken the book from him. 'Please, do feel free to browse the library for any books that are _available _to you,'

'I love you,' the man breathed, staring up at her, eyes shining.

China gave him a beautific smile, pale blue eyes lit up in amusement. 'How sweet,' she murmured. 'Now go.'

Gaurelin scurried away, glancing back at his 'one true love' every so often.

Finally aware of their presence, China Sorrows then turned to Tanith and Valkyrie, the false smile replaced by what looked to be a genuine one. 'Valkyrie. It's been so long... what, five months?'

'Four years,' Valkyrie corrected stonily.

The beautiful woman nodded, 'Yes. A very long time,' she turned to Tanith, a barely-disguised look of distaste on her face. 'And you brought a friend... Tanya, is it?'

'Tanith, actually,' Tanith growled. 'And don't worry, we're not here to waste your time with a social visit. I just want to get a book and go,'

'Of course,' China tilted her head to the side, eyes flashing with some emotion that Valkyrie had never seen in those eyes before. 'I understand that Skulduggery has told you about our last little... accident,'

'Yes,' Valkyrie said flatly, 'He has.'

'I understand if you hate me,' she continued, extending an arm towards her extensive library of books. 'But do feel free to browse my library as much as you like.'

Without another word, Tanith walked forward, pushing past China like the woman wasn't even there. She didn't look fazed. She simply turned her beautiful blue eyes, paler than the sky itself, onto Valkyrie. 'And just where is it you've been?' she asked.

Valkyrie hesitated. She so desperately wanted to leave China alone here in her huge apartment, to scream and shout at her for doing what she had done to Skulduggery. But something inside her wouldn't let her do that. To her, China was an ally, someone who could always be trusted- a friend, even, someone who would give her unexpected advice without judging her too harshly. A cold-hearted but lonely woman who happened to enjoy her power and authority? Yes. But a monster who would still sell out the only friends she actually has? No. That was not China, not any more. So Valkyrie put a tiny smile onto her face and said, 'I thought you'd be able to tell by my accent,'

China smiled again. 'America? How quaint,' she waved her arm elegantly, gesturing to the armchairs by the wall. 'Come, take a seat. Tell me all about it,'

Valkyrie hesitated for only a moment, her eyes drifting over to Tanith, who was glaring at her expectantly, before she perched herself gently on the pristine armchairs.

China looked pleased. Tanith looked murderous. Valkyrie felt torn. After a few moments of glaring at Valkyrie, though, Tanith eventually looked away and started searching the aisles for her mysterious book, and Valkyrie looked back to China, who was pouring tea into two dainty-looking teacups.

Valkyrie accepted her cup with another tiny smile. 'Thanks,' she said quietly.

'Tell me about America,' China repeated. 'Where about have you been staying?'

'Um, California. With a few friends,' Valkyrie said, taking a sip of her tea, then deciding that it was nowhere near sweet enough and adding another two sugar cubes.

China raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything. Valkyrie took this as a sign to continue, 'It's pretty nice there. Sunny, you know. I worked for the American Sanctuary in California for the duration of my stay,'

'And why did you go there in the first place?' China asked, gazing intensely at her. Valkyrie felt slightly uncomfortable under her piercing stare. She shifted slightly in her seat.

'Well, things were difficult, weren't they? I guess it was just too much for me. So I left,'

Talking politely with her she may be, but there was no way that Valkyrie was going to trust China Sorrows with her little-big secret right now.

China nodded, as if in understanding. 'I see. Who are these friends you speak of with such fondness?'

'You don't know them,' Valkyrie said quickly, summoning confidence from her chest and returning China's stare.

The older woman arched an eyebrow again. 'Try me. You'd be surprised.'

'Blade Koldo, Hazel Lynd, Willow Arawn, Hades Flame and Maddox Fever?'

China paused, before smiling again. 'You were right after all. I have no idea who those people are. They sound boring, anyway. Would you like more tea?' she added, seeing Valkyrie put down her cup.

'No, thank you,' Valkyrie said. 'Hey, China... what exactly happened with you and Skulduggery?'

The older woman hesitated. 'He found out the truth, Valkyrie,' she said finally.

Valkyrie's eyes widened. She had expected this, of course, but to heard China actually admitting it was a bit of a shock, to say the least. 'You mean it's true?'

'Of course it's true,' China frowned at her. 'Don't tell me you thought... oh, my dear Valkyrie,' she said pitifully. 'You thought they were lying, didn't you? My, my. You have too big a heart, that's your problem.'

'You told me before,' said Valkyrie through gritted teeth, looking away. 'Don't speak to me like I'm a child, China. I'm twenty years-old. Not that I'd expect you to know anyway,'

China raised her eyebrows. 'My dear, you suddenly sound so hateful.' her eyes flickered above Valkyrie's head, and she pursed her lips. 'I see you found what you were looking for. I expect it back within two weeks, as usual. Perhaps you should both leave now,'

'Oh, we will,' Tanith's voice came from behind Valkyrie. 'Val? Let's go,'

Valkyrie got to her feet, feeling confused and angry. 'Goodbye, China,' she said, before turning on her heel and leading the way out of the library, Tanith following at her heel.

_Well, _she thought to herself. _That was partially disastrous. _

****HL** **

Hazel Lynd was not a patient girl. Nor was she a cheerful one. And she most certainly did not like surprises- especially when they involved being led, blindfolded, by Maddox through the Sanctuary.

'For god's sake,' she muttered as she was ordered to turn left. 'Maddox, just take the damn blindfold off me already.'

'No, wait a minute,' Maddox most definitely sounded amused, something which Hazel mentally vowed to get back at him for later. In her head, she'd already beat him up at least five times.

'Maddox,' she whined.

'Hazel,' he mimicked mockingly.

She scowled. Then Maddox told her to stop walking, they were here. 'Take it off,' she ordered immediately. She felt hands at the back of her head, swiftly untying the blindfold. She let out an unconscious sigh of relief once it was off, blinking a few times to adjust her eyes to the light and then turning back to Maddox with an expectant glare. 'Remind me again why I let you do that?' she demanded.

He grinned charmingly at her. 'You love it,'

'You know I hate feeling confined,' she reminded him angrily.

'It'll be worth it,' Maddox promised, still grinning that damn grin.

Hazel rolled her eyes. 'Whatever. What's this surprise already?'

'Be patient, woman, jeez,' Maddox chuckled. They had stopped in front of a door, and it was now that Maddox pulled a key from his pocket and jammed it into the lock on the door. The key twisted and the door opened. He pushed it open and allowed Hazel inside.

She looked in, and gasped. 'M-Maddox...' she breathed, eyes wide.

The room was dimly lit, illuminated only by the candles that were spread around the room- a fire hazard, surely, but Hazel was more than willing to overlook that. The flickering flames were beautiful, especially from the larger candle that sat as a centrepiece for the dining table that was in the middle of the room. On the dining table, as well as the candle, sat two silver buffet trays- the kind Hazel had thought she would only ever get to see when she was watching movies. She grinned. Two chairs were positioned opposite each other at the table.

Looking delightedly at Maddox, Hazel said, 'All this for me?'

'Well... yeah,' Maddox grinned. 'Do you like it?'

'Hell, yeah!' Hazel laughed, gazing around. 'It's... it's beautiful.'

'It _was_ Erskine's office,' Maddox explained, 'but he let me use it when I explained it was for romantic reasons.'

'R- romantic?'

Much to her embarrassment, there was a blush rapidly spreading across her face. Romantic... this meant that this was a date. A date. With Maddox.

Hazel Lynd was on a date with Maddox Fever... had the world gone mad?

Probably. Hazel grinned and, without any warning, threw her arms around Maddox's neck, murmuring a quiet, '_thank you,_' in his ear.

_Yes, _she thought happily, _the world most definitely _has_ gone mad. _

Maddox pulled back and grinned widely. 'Would you like to take a seat, m'lady?'

'Don't mind if I do,' Hazel smiled playfully, pulling up a chair.

_Mad. Mad, mad, mad, _she chanted in her mind.

The night progressed well. Hazel laughed and talking with Maddox, and when he lifted the silver lids from their plates to reveal Hazel's favourite meal, greasy cheeseburger and fries, Hazel actually let out a squeal. She never would have thought herself capable of behaving so... girly, for lack of a better word. But yet, here she was.

_Mad, mad, mad, _she thought as she had dinner with Maddox.

_Mad,mad, mad, _she thought as she thanked him for a wonderful evening.

_Mad, mad, mad, _she thought as she pressed her lips against his.

****HL** **

'That was so awkward,' Valkyrie groaned to Blade and Willow as she joined them in her room. She didn't bother asking them why they were in her room in the first place; she didn't mind them being there.  
>'What happened?' Willow asked immediately.<br>'Where did you go?' Blade asked at the same time.

Valkyrie rolled her dark eyes, gesturing quickly for Blade and Willow to move out of the way before she collapsed onto the bed.

Blade laughed gently and pulled her head carelessly onto his lap. Valkyrie immediately looked at Willow, but the younger girl was merely smirking at them.

'Shut up,' Valkyrie muttered, relaxing her head on Blade's lap. 'Me and Tanith went to China Sorrows' library- she's an old ally of ours- and, long story short, it turns out she was involved directly in the death of Skulduggery's family,'

There was a short pause, before Willow replied, 'You're right. That _is_ awkward,'

'Are you okay?' Blade asked her.

Valkyrie glanced up at him. 'Me? I'm fine. It's Skulduggery I'm worried about... Tanith only mentioned his name, and he got all angry.'

'You should talk to him,' Willow said. 'Later, I mean. Calm him down if he's still upset.'

'I will,' Valkyrie sighed, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. 'You know, sometimes I still feel like a teenager, and sometimes I feel like a mother,'

'You should ease up- adulthood, according to my brother, isn't all it's cracked up to be,' Blade advised, smirking.

'I preferred being a teenager,' Valkyrie agreed. 'But then again, people listen to me now I'm out of my teen years, so it's all good.'

A knock at the door interrupted their light-hearted conversation. 'Come in,' Valkyrie called, expecting another member of their group to join them.

Instead, she was greeted with the solemn-looking face of Fletcher Renn. 'Hey, Val... can I ta-' he broke off suddenly when he looked at her, mouth dropping open slightly.

Valkyrie realized her position, with her head in Blade's lap, and the boy who she had once loved staring at her as if she had betrayed him greatly.

'Never mind,' Fletcher said quickly. 'I'll come back later.'

Valkyrie sat up immediately. 'No, wait, Fletch. Come in,'

The spiky-haired blond hesitated, then stepped back into the doorway. 'I was actually hoping to talk to you alone,' he said pointedly, glancing at Willow then Blade, then back at Valkyrie.

She sighed, looking apologetically at her two friends. 'Do you mind?' she asked them.

'Not at all,' Willow said, giving Valkyrie a pitying glance. She returned it with a miserable look. Blade squeezed her hand slightly before leaving, Willow in tow.

Valkyrie was sure she saw his shoulder make contact with Fletcher's before he disappeared from view.

The Teleporter stepped into the room, looking, for probably the first time in his life, unsure. 'Valkyrie?' he said.

She smiled at him. 'I'm here,' she replied.

'Are you avoiding me?' he asked her bluntly.

Valkyrie blinked, the smile dropping. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard me,' he said, gazing intently at her. 'I've hardly seen you since you got back.'

'Oh, that,' Valkyrie rubbed the back of her neck. 'Well, I've been really busy, Fletch,'

'Not too busy to see Skulduggery, or Tanith, or that Blade guy.' Fletcher said sulkily, crossing his arms.

Valkyrie sighed. She patted the space on the bed next to her with a raised eyebrow. 'Sit, Fletch,' she said. 'We need to have a talk... a very long talk.'

**A/N: The fluff... mixed with the drama... mixed with the real life... it burns!  
>Oh my god, late chapter. I pay for it with HazelMaddox fluff. Damn, I hope you all actually like fluff... PLEASE tell me you all like fluff. ;)  
>Thank you for reading, reviewing, favouriting, alerting, being alive... the works. Other writers will know how wonderful it is to get a notificationemail/whatever you get telling you that your story has been reviewed or added to someone's favourites/alerts. Really. It's probably the best feeling in the world, so thank you... hint, hint, review. ;)  
>I hope you liked this chapter! I still need your opinions on the following super-duper-life-or-death-important matters, guys:<br>Should I pair Willow with Hades or Erskine, or should 'Who needs boys?' be her train of thought?  
>What power should I give Valkyrie when she experiences the Surge- Necromancy or Elemental?<br>Should I have Valkyrie experience the Surge at all?  
>Would you like to see more Darquesse vs Lord Vile?<br>Do you want to see China and Skulduggery make up? (No romance involved in that, sorry, guys).  
>Let me know... in a review. ;) ;) ;) ;)<br>Thanks again, see you soon!  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	34. Bad Break Up

**Chapter 34. **

'You're so... different,' Fletcher said, staring at her intently.

Valkyrie sighed and kept her gaze fixed on the wall. 'I know.'

'Like, really different,' Fletcher continued. 'Everything about you is so...'

'Different?' Valkyrie offered, finally turning to look at him. 'Yes, Fletch, I know.'

'Sorry,' the blonde Teleporter smiled sheepishly. 'I just haven't seen you in so long...'

'You saw me the other day,' she pointed out.

'But we haven't talked properly in so long,' Fletcher insisted, and his hand crept closer and to Valkyrie's until, much to her discomfort, it was resting gently on hers. She pulled her hand away hesitantly, flashing her old flame an apologetic smile, a smile that clearly said, _Let's not go there just yet. _

Looking more puppy-dog-like than ever, Fletcher looked up at her with those blue eyes that would always portray just what he was feeling. Those distracting blond spikes on his head looked more toned-down than usual. Valkyrie thought he looked kind of lost in that moment; like he'd just found something that he'd spent years searching for, only to look at it and start thinking, _… Now what? _

And, she supposed, that was exactly what had happened. Valkyrie wasn't stupid. She knew that Fletcher had been looking for her for a long time after she left; had still been when she came back. But now that he had found her, he could do nothing with her; she had turned him away with gentle rejections and by moving ever-closer to Blade.

'I guess we haven't,' Valkyrie murmured, feeling guilty.

'So let's talk _now_,' Fletcher said, offering her a smile that made him look much more like his old, cocky self than his previous sheepish one.

'Isn't that what we're already doing?' Valkyrie smiled at him. 'Fletch, look- I know that you've been looking for me, and I'm so, so sorry that it's mostly been a wasted effort-'

'It's not a wasted effort,' the Teleporter insisted, shifting closer to her, 'you're here now, aren't you?'

'But you didn't find me. I came back. And, Fletch... you know that we can't be together any more, don't you?'

He frowned. 'No, I didn't know that. Why can't we?'

'Because...' Valkyrie hesitated. What should she tell him? _I've already moved on_? _I don't feel that way about you any more_? _It's too complicated_? 'We just can't, Fletcher. I'm sorry.'

'I'm not going to accept that we can't be together until you give me a solid reason,' Fletcher said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Valkyrie pursed her lips at him. 'There's no reason in particular, not really...'

Fletcher's stare turned into a glare. 'I'm not as stupid as I look, Val. What's the real reason?'

'I've moved on, Fletch,' Valkyrie sighed. His glare intensified so much that Valkyrie started to glare back at him. 'What, does that make you angry, Fletcher? Are you upset that I didn't hold out for you for four years?'

'Oh, no, not at all,'he said, voice dripping with sarcasm as he got to his feet, 'It's not like I did that for you, is it?'

Valkyrie shook her head and looked away, moving her glare to the wall of her bedroom. 'I left, Fletcher. Everyone else accepted that, eventually. Everyone except you... why?'

'Because I love you!'

'No, you don't!' Valkyrie looked back at him and let out a bitter laugh. 'What we had wasn't _love_, Fletcher. It was just a bit of fun- just a little fling.'

'You...' Fletcher stopped glaring now, and his mouth fell slightly open. 'That... that's what you think?'

Valkyrie stared at him. 'You... oh dear god. You thought it was something more, didn't you?'

She hated this- hated doing this to him. Hated making him feel like he was the only one who had thought that their relationship had been something special... because it _had_ been something special. Oh, god, it had. It had been the most painful thing in the world for a sixteen year-old Valkyrie to have to say goodbye to her boyfriend through a note. But she couldn't let Fletcher think that there was any chance of them getting back together now- if she had to be cruel towards him in order for that to happen, then so be it.

'Yes, I did,' Fletcher said after a long, long pause, looking as if Valkyrie had punched him in the gut. She didn't like seeing him look so upset- she was tempted to tell him that she was only joking, and that she really _did_ care for him, after all. 'And I know for a fact that you did too, Val. Don't try and hide it from me... I can read you like an open book.'

Fletcher sounded like he didn't believe his own words. Internally, Valkyrie sighed. In fact, internally, Valkyrie was doing a lot of things. Getting down on her knees to apologize was one of them. But on the outside, she kept her face calm and cold.

'Fletcher,' she said softly. 'You can leave now.'

'No.'

'I've said everything that needed to be said.'

'Did it need to be said, though?' Fletcher asked challengingly. 'What good did it do? All it did was hurt me! And what are you going to do now, eh? Go off to your knew boyfriend and ride off into the sunset together?'

'Don't do this to yourself,' Valkyrie snapped. 'I said I was sorry, all right?'

'Have you enjoyed spending the last four years with him?' Fletcher continued. 'While I've been working myself to death searching for you everywhere?'

'Then you shouldn't have looked for me, Fletcher!'

'You know what you are, Val? You're selfish. It always has to be about you.'

Valkyrie said nothing; she merely looked at Fletcher. Her calm, cold exterior did not even flicker.

'It's not like you should care, though, right? Why should Valkyrie Cain care about what happens to other people, as long as she's okay?'

'Fletcher, enough,' Valkyrie said softly, hurt by his words.

'What? Am I hurting your feelings?' Fletcher demanded.

'I think it's time for you to leave now,' a rather angry-sounding voice came from the doorway. Valkyrie looked over and was more relieved than she could have imagined possible to see Hades, arms crossed over his chest and a furious look on his face.

'I was just going anyway. Wouldn't want to take up any more of Queen Valkyrie's time,' Fletcher said bitterly, throwing another angry but wounded glance at Valkyrie before disappearing with a pop.

Valkyrie stood there silently for a few moments before she turned back to Hades. 'Thank you,' she said calmly.

'Are you okay, Val?' Hades asked. He looked concerned.

'Of course I'm okay,' Valkyrie replied, raising an eyebrow. 'Why wouldn't I be?'

Hades frowned. 'Right... if you say so. What was all that about?'

'Fletcher, it seems, can't handle break-ups very well. That would have been useful to know before I broke up with him.'

Hades' eyes widened. 'You mean you've only just broken up with him?'

'Only just broken up with him _officially_,' the dark-haired woman replied. 'I thought that he'd gotten the message that it was over when I left Ireland four years ago. But, hey, whatever. It's done with now, and we can never speak of it again.'

'Uh... right.'

'Why are you here?' Valkyrie asked, handily changing the subject. She was good at that.

'Well, I heard raised voices coming from your room, so I just, you know, came to check it out,' Hades shrugged, looking almost sheepish.

'Well, thank you,' Valkyrie said. 'Did you see where Blade and Willow went?'

'No idea.'

'Hazel and Maddox, then?'

Hades grinned cheekily. 'They're on a _date_.'

Valkyrie gave a grin that must have matched Hades' exactly. 'It was only a matter of time,' she said.

'Yeah,' Hades chuckled, then rubbed a hand behind his neck. 'Well, I guess I'll be going, then-'

'No, wait,' Valkyrie frowned. 'Stay. Hang out with me. I'm bored, and everyone else is gone.'

'Right. So I'm your last resort.'

Valkyrie beamed at him. 'Exactly!'

Hades pressed a hand to his heart in mock hurt. 'You wound me, Miss Cain!'

'Don't take it personally, Mr Flame,' Valkyrie teased. 'I have a habit of wounding people.'

_And how true that is, _Valkyrie thought to herself sadly.

****HL** **

Fletcher ended up in Australia when he teleported away from Valkyrie's room at the Sanctuary.

The angry tears that he'd been holding in- cry? In front of Valkyrie Cain? Who would be mad enough to do that?- finally spilled over his cheeks, and that was how he ended up crying in the middle of a sunny Australian street.

The last place that he'd teleported to with Valkyrie had been Australia... they'd had ice cream and gone surfing, and Valkyrie had been so awful at it that she'd ended up manipulating the water to carry hear easily. That had only been a few days before she left... what had been on her mind when she'd been talking with Fletcher then, when she'd been kissing him and laughing with him and wiping dollops of ice cream off his nose? Had she really just been wondering how she'd be able to escape Ireland unnoticed?

Fletcher hadn't meant to say all those things to her. They were true, to a degree; Valkyrie _was_ selfish. She was a naturally selfish person. But that was just another thing that made her... _her_. She wouldn't be Valkyrie Cain if she wasn't selfish.

But had she meant all those things that she'd said to him? Probably. Fletcher wiped his tears away furiously, ignoring the strange looks he was gathering from the Australian folks who passed him. He wouldn't cry over Valkyrie any more. He would be strong and brave, like Valkyrie always was. He would be the kind of man who Valkyrie probably wanted.

A large, parrot-like bird with bright green feathers flew right past Fletcher's face and perched itself on the edge of the fountain beside him. Hadn't he and Valkyrie encountered a bird just like this on their last date to Australia? They had... it had sat on Valkyrie's stomach, and then on Fletcher's head. They'd had so much fun that day...

Fletcher blinked. What was he doing, thinking of things like that? He was making himself feel even more upset at his loss.

_Hiss loss. _Had the situation been different, Fletcher would have snorted at himself. That made it sound like Valkyrie had died or something. She hadn't. She was still there, and she had made it clear that she didn't have any problems with remaining friends with Fletcher... well, she _had_. Until she started shouting at him, and Fletcher had started shouting back. And they'd both said stupid, hurtful things to each other.

And now Valkyrie probably hated him. Fletcher closed his eyes and let his head fall into his hands, effectively messing up his spikes. Not that they were particularly great to begin with.

'Why,' he asked himself quietly. 'Are these things always so _difficult_?'

****HL** **

Dusk had listened into the fight between Valkyrie Cain and Fletcher Renn, and he was now relishing in the misery that practically radiated from Miss Cain herself in her room at the Sanctuary.

He seemed to spend all of his days lately hanging out outside Cain's window, listening into her conversations, watching her practice her skills in her room. She was a fascinating little thing to watch, she really was- but she still needed to die.

Dusk had been planning that a lot- how Valkyrie Cain would die. At first, he had imagined killing her simply by ripping her limb from limb. Then he realized that it would bring him more pleasure to simple kill her by draining her of blood; a nice celebratory feast as well as the death of one of his most hated enemies. Two birds with one stone, really.

But would that be too... _easy_? Cain wouldn't suffer much being drained of blood; of course, it would hurt, but Cain was so used to hurt by now that surely she would be able to convince herself that she didn't feel a thing. She would die somewhat peacefully, and Dusk couldn't be having that. He wanted Cain to suffer.

So how? The slowest method he had imagined so far was the ripping her limb from limb; but that was such an unoriginal idea.

Hmm...

Dusk's planning, however, was interrupted by the sound of Cain's loud, _loud_ laughter floating from her room.

His lip curled in disgust and his dark eyes narrowed; why should she be happy, when she had brought such suffering to others? The boy she was with, that Flame fellow, was laughing, too.

And then the idea struck Dusk like a stroke of lightening; of course. It was obvious. It was devious, it was wonderful, it was _perfect_.

He would simply kill those most important to Cain before he drained her blood; make her watch as he ripped _them _limb from limb.

A dark grin spread across Dusk's face, stretching the long pink scar that Cain gave to him.

He wondered what would taste sweeter: payback, or Cain's blood?

**A/N: I feel so... MEH about this chapter. I was not expecting myself to put in what was pretty much three sectionss of Valkyrie hate. I'm not feeling my best right now, so, yeah. I didn't want Fletcher and Valkyrie fighting at all, before you shout at me for putting that in; I just... I don't know. -_-  
>I have KS3 SAT exams (I thought they were taken out of the system.. o.O) in two weeks, in case I haven't already told you, so revision is going to make exams less frequent until they're over. (26th March- come at me, bro.)<br>So. I hope you liked this chapter, even though I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. I apologize about the shortness and stuff. Please forgive me.  
>On a brighter note, I got all the subjects I wanted for next year. Every cloud, eh?<br>Like you care, though. -_- x) Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and alerts- have I already told you how happy it makes me to get those nice little emails? Even so, I'm saying it again.  
>P-L-E-A-S-E-R-E-V-I-E-W.<br>See you guys.  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo <strong>


	35. Vampire Problems

**Chapter 35. **

'I've always wondered why everyone's so obsessed with the sunset,' Blade murmured, looking thoughtful. 'It's just... a thing, you know?'

Valkyrie looked at him. His arm was slung over her shoulder, and they were curled up together on the admittedly cold ground round the back of the Sanctuary, where hardly anybody went. It was hardly a scenic place- in fact, the only pretty thing in sight was the sunset in front of them. It was gorgeous. It more than made up for the general dullness of Roarhaven itself.

'But,' Blade continued, a smile playing on his face. 'Now I see it. It really is beautiful.'

'Yeah,' Valkyrie muttered. She felt truly comfortable. The whole day had been filled with ups and downs; the argument with Fletcher was most definitely a down, but this moment couldn't be anything but perfect. 'It is.'

Blade turned his head toward her, the small smile transforming into a huge grin. 'Not at beautiful as you, of course.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes, smirking. 'Cheesy lines don't suit you all that well, Blade.'

'What does?' he asked teasingly.

Valkyrie pursed her lips together, placing a thoughtful look on her face. 'Well...'

'No, wait, don't answer that,' Blade grinned crookedly.

Valkyrie smiled at him, then turned away. 'Do you ever wish we were back in California, Blade?'

'Yes,' he replied immediately. Valkyrie looked back to him and saw that he had an almost apologetic look on his face. 'This place is great and all, and I know how much you love being back here, but... all I've actually seen of Ireland is this place, Roarhaven, and it's not given me the best of impressions.'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'Understandable, I guess.'

'You are glad to be back, aren't you?'

'Of course I am,' Valkyrie frowned. 'What makes you think I'm not?'

'Nothing. Do _you _prefer being in California?'

'It's definitely sunnier. Brighter,' Valkyrie tilted her head to the side, let it rest on Blade's shoulder. 'But this is home. I like it here.'

Blade hesitated, like he wasn't sure that he wanted to say what he was about to say. 'And... do you want to go back to California? When all of this is over?'

Valkyrie suddenly didn't know what to say. A part of her did want to go back to California, her place of escape, her sunny home away from home. But another part, a much bigger part inside her heart, wanted to stay here in Ireland. Her _real _home. She would be able to reign Darquesse in, somehow, she was sure of it. They would find a way, her and Skulduggery and Erskine and the others. It would work out in the end, just like it always had, back here at home. Wouldn't it?

But would Blade, Hazel, Willow, Hades and Maddox stay with her if she chose to carry on living in Ireland? She doubted it. They had lives, too, back in California. The American Sanctuary needed them. The people of America, magical and mortal, needed them.

A sigh escaped her lips. It was a decision that she'd have to make, at some point in the future. But she couldn't make it now. 'I don't know, Blade,' she said. She felt a hand thread through her hair and the smile she had been wearing before returned to her face.

'You can't decide?'

'I _want_ to want to go back to California.'

'But you don't.'

'I do,' Valkyrie insisted, biting her lip. 'I just... want to stay here more.'

'You could, if you want,' Blade raised an eyebrow. 'I guess.'

'This is a discussion that shouldn't be had right now,' Valkyrie said.

'Agreed,' Blade said quickly, and they spoke of it no more as they watched the sunset, once again feeling completely and utterly relaxed.

****HL** **

As Caelan watched the two talk and laugh together under the sunset, he felt the pain in his heart intensify.

Why couldn't Valkyrie have chosen him? Why did she have to leave four years ago... after they had shared their first kiss together? Caelan had spent many months searching for her before he finally gave up, and carried on living his life- or whatever you could call his pathetic, lonely existence- alone in the shadows, just like he had been doing before Valkyrie had entered and brightened up his 'life'.

He sighed quietly, sparing a glance at the burning orange sun ahead. It was a good thing that he had taken his serum tonight, or the setting of the sun would mark the temporary loss of his humanity, just as it often had... until Valkyrie had come along and brought with her the serum that had saved him from his own fate.

A sound from up in a nearby tree distracted Caelan's train of thought, and his head snapped to the side, in the direction where the sound had come from. His dark eyes narrowed, and, with another glance towards Valkyrie to make sure she was still okay, he moved in the direction of the sound, making sure that his whole form was still obscured by the shadow of the Sanctuary.

'Caelan,' a voice said after he had jumped to the top branch of the tree. 'You foolish boy. You idiotic man.'

'Dusk,' Caelan growled.

'Still spying on our dear Miss Cain?' Dusk sneered. The long pink scar that Valkyrie left on him stretched across his otherwise handsome face.

'I thought I already told you to leave this place alone,' Caelan snarled.

'And you expected me to listen?'

Caelan lunged. He didn't care that they were both in a tree; they were vampires, agile and sleek and graceful. They could fight and still remain on one branch.

Dusk snarled back at him, now, and his long, pale fingers grabbed Caelan's face, his thumbs pressing painfully into his eyes. Caelan bit back a cry and pushed Dusk off him, nearly losing his balance while doing so, but managing at the last moment to regain his footing and stay in the tree.

'_What the hell are you two doing_?'

The screech came from down below, on the ground. Valkyrie was stood there, looking furious. Behind her stood the human boy with whom she seemed besotted- Blade, Caelan had heard her call him. Blade the human.

'Dusk!' Valkyrie's eyes narrowed as she jabbed a finger in the general direction of Caelan's opponent. 'What the hell are you even doing here? How are you actually standing up on a branch? You... _both_ of you...' she trailed off, seemingly unable to continue her sentence.

'I was protecting you,' Caelan said meekly, momentarily forgetting about his fight with Dusk.

'_Protecting _me?' Valkyrie demanded, sounding incredulous. 'For god's sake, Caelan!'

Meanwhile, Blade's eyes had narrowed and he had stood up a little straighter. Caelan's own eyes narrowed now- he recognized a protective, territorial male when he saw one.

Dusk's eyes were locked on Valkyrie. He didn't speak, didn't move. He merely watched the girl- or woman, as Caelan supposed she now was. Valkyrie, now looking back at him, returned his gaze with full intensity. It looked like she was challenging him. Challenging a vampire.

Since when had his Valkyrie gotten so foolish?

'Leave,' Valkyrie said coldly. It was as if she was only just registering his presence, what his being here could mean. 'Right now. If I see you anywhere near here again, I'll-'

'Kill me?' Dusk's smile was as cruel and cold as Valkyrie's glare. 'I would like to see you try.'

'Are you sure?' a smirk flickered up on Valkyrie's face. 'Because I've tried before- and that's how you got that pretty little scar on your face. I got you good, didn't I?'

The smile fell from Dusk's face, and he glared at Valkyrie with eyes that were filled with threats. 'How's the baby sister?' he asked almost nonchalantly.

Before anyone could react, a ball of fire had shot up in the direction of Dusk's head, and only missed because the vampire carefully and smoothly stepped to the side.

'Foolish girl,' Dusk sneered. And suddenly he was falling, falling out of the tree and away from Caelan, who watched him fall with a sense of satisfaction that he had been longing to feel for much too long now.

Valkyrie's palms were open, her hands extended in front of her. She glared down at Dusk, and then moved her gaze up as he got to his feet. Dusk followed her gaze, and the cold smile returned. Caelan jumped down from the tree himself, a part of him disappointed at being forgotten, a part of him eager and ready to protect Valkyrie if he needed to.

'Worried that I'm going to turn?' Dusk challenged.

'You've taken your serum,' Valkyrie said.

'You're getting cleverer as you grow older. Congratulations.'

Valkyrie frowned and tilted her head to the side. 'Oh, god,' she said. 'Don't try to be witty- it really doesn't suit you.'

'I have better things to do with my life than stand here and exchange banter with you.'

'What life?'

And then, quite unexpectedly, Dusk lunged, teeth bared, aiming for Valkyrie's throat. Valkyrie lashed her foot out at once, catching Dusk with a kick to the stomach that, had he been in full vampire form, would have been less bother than a pesky fly. But, since Dusk had taken the serum that prevented him from transforming, the strong kick sent him backwards. Caelan and Blade, also, immediately stepped into action, Blade taking out a pair of sharp-looking knives and Caelan baring his own fangs.

Valkyrie reached into her pocket and pulled a small object out- a ring, Caelan realized. A plain black ring that seemed to be bursting with power as Valkyrie slipped onto her ring. Necromancer magic. With a flick of her hand, a wave of shadows was sent crashing into Dusk's chest, and he was sent staggering backwards once again.

Caelan was impressed. Of course, he'd always known that Valkyrie was a great fighter- but the way that she used her powers with such ease, barely batting an eyelid as she sent a vampire crashing to the floor, was admirable indeed. She looked so fierce and strong when fighting; she was a wonderful sight to behold.

His Valkyrie. He moved slightly closer to her while she was distracted with using her shadows to keep Dusk struggling on the floor. She didn't seem to notice... but Blade did. The human shot Caelan a threatening glance that the vampire chose to ignore.

Seeing Valkyrie again, up close like this, had re-awakened the old passion that had slowly, oh so slowly, been fading as the years went by. Caelan wanted Valkyrie. And he would make sure that he had her.

****HL** **

'Well,' Valkyrie commented after a few moments of using her powerful shadows and the manipulation of air to keep the vampire pinned to the ground. 'This is awfully easy. Aren't you even going to try, Dusky, darling?'

The vampire growled, teeth snapping at Valkyrie. She merely smirked at him, and then looked back at Blade. 'Don't worry,' she said. 'I've got this. Why don't you go find Skulduggery?'

Blade hesitated, glancing first at the vampire and then at Caelan before returning his gaze to Valkyrie. 'I don't trust _him_-' he jerked his head towards Caelan, who immediately narrowed his eyes- 'enough to leave you alone with him.'

'You worry too much,' Valkyrie joked half-heartedly. 'Go. Get Skulduggery, get Tanith, get Erskine... get whoever.'

'Why doesn't he go get them?' Blade asked stubbornly, with another jerk of the head towards Caelan.

Valkyrie sighed heavily, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. 'Go. Seriously. Now.'

So forceful was Valkyrie's voice that Blade, with a begrudging look and a glare at Caelan, turned and ran back into the Sanctuary, saying over his shoulder, 'I'll get Skulduggery.'

'If I let you up,' Valkyrie said carefully to the vampire. 'Will you attack me again?'

'Stupid question,' Caelan said quietly. 'He's a vampire. The only thoughts running through his head are thoughts of killing you.'

Valkyrie, slightly offended at being called stupid by a vampire, simply nodded, looking back at the vampire. 'Can you even talk?'

The vampire snarled and thrashed even more, looking absolutely enraged.

'You shouldn't anger him,' Caelan warned.

'I can handle myself, thanks,' Valkyrie snapped at him. 'What are you even doing here?'

He hesitated. 'I was watching you.'

There was a pause. Even the vampire seemed to stop in fear at the suddenly murderous expression on Valkyrie's face. Slowly, oh so slowly, she turned towards Caelan. 'You... were... _watching_... me?'

Caelan backed away, looking sheepish. 'Just making sure that you were protected at all times.'

'Watching me. You were... watching me. Watching me do _what_?' she paled. 'Did you watch me sleep? Did you watch me shower? Oh, if I find out that you've been watching me shower-'

'I didn't watch you shower,' he assured her.

'And sleep?' His silence was the only answer she needed. 'You _creep_! You're not meant to watch people _sleep_!'

'I was protecting you...'

'What on earth makes you think I need protecting in the first place?'

Caelan didn't answer that particular question. Instead he moved closer to her, looking weary of the shadows she was still using to hold vampire-Dusk down. 'I love you, Valkyrie. Why did you leave me in the darkness?'

She blinked. She had not been expecting that. 'What?' she asked blankly, unsure how she was supposed to reply.

'You are the light to my dark. You are the soother to my pain.'

Valkyrie groaned. 'You sound like you're ripping pages from a gothic novel. Stop it.'

'I can't stop,' Caelan insisted, taking his face in her hands. She grimaced and stepped back. 'I _love_ you. You are... you are my sweet agony.'

'Just stop, Caelan, okay? Stop,' Valkyrie shook her head, looking away. 'I can't deal with you right now... and if Skulduggery comes out and sees you, I'm going to be honest, he'll probably shoot you. So just go away.'

'And leave you alone with him?' he shook his head. 'I will never leave you.'

'Please stop talking. And never call me your sweet agony again.'

He reached out another hand, and Valkyrie, unable to slap it away thanks to the shadows and air she was using to keep Dusk-vampire down, let out a menacing growl. '_Piss off _is what I'm saying, Caelan.'

His eyebrows shot up, his hand still extended towards her in a failed attempt to stroke her cheek. 'I...'

He didn't have the chance to continue his sentence, as the sound of gunfire could be heard from the direction of the Sanctuary. The bullet went flying towards them- towards Caelan. He managed to step out of the way just in time, and it went flying harmlessly into a nearby tree. Valkyrie snapped her head around to look at Skulduggery, a small but amused smile on her face. 'Told you he'd shoot you.'

'Get away from her,' Blade said, running forward with Skulduggery. 'Now.'

Caelan ignored them both and gazed at Valkyrie. 'I love you. I'll still be watching,' was all he said before he took off running.

Valkyrie groaned. 'Great. I have a stalker on my hands.'

'Did he do anything to you?' Blade asked. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine.'

'I hate to say I told you so...' Skulduggery said, and then he paused. 'Wait. No I don't. Saying I told you so is one of my favourite things. Valkyrie, I told you so.'

'Don't remind me,' she sighed. Then she looked down at the thrashing vampire. 'A little help here, perhaps? I can't keep him down forever.'

Skulduggery nodded. 'Right.' He withdrew a small vial of salt water from his coat pocket, unscrewed the lid and then poured it onto Dusk's belly.

It did nothing.

Valkyrie stared at him. 'That... that was it?'

When he spoke, the skeleton sounded disappointed. 'I was expecting him to choke up and die, to be honest.'

'Maybe you should have poured it into his mouth.'

'That may have been more sensible.'

Valkyrie's arms were getting sore from being held out for so long. She closed her eyes patiently, then opened them. 'Can you not just... shoot him?'

'Shoot a vampire?' Skulduggery nodded. 'It would be my pleasure. But I'm afraid it won't kill him.'

'I don't care,' she snapped. 'I just want to put my hands down. Then we can just fight him normally.'

'That's... that's a bit of a rubbish plan, to be honest.'

'I don't care,' Valkyrie repeated.

Blade looked on, looking worried. 'This is a _plan_?'

'I've always liked living dangerously,' Valkyrie muttered. 'Shoot, Skul.'

A loud bang sounded as Skulduggery fired the gun at the vampire's face. It roared, enraged, as the newly created hole in his face started to heal up.

'Now!' Blade shouted. Valkyrie released her shadow-hold and the three of them turned and sprinted.

'Where to now? The lake?' Valkyrie asked loudly as they ran.

'Anywhere with salt water!' Skulduggery shouted back.

'The lake, then. This way!'

'I know the way, Valkyrie!'

'Blade doesn't!'

'Actually, I do...'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and then glanced back- the vampire was gaining on them, fast.

'Run faster!' she yelled.

And so they did. They ran towards the lake, managing to stay out of the reach of the vampire as they did. Valkyrie was the first to go in. She dived into the lake, followed by Skulduggery and then Blade.

The vampire followed them up until the edge of the lake, and then it stopped, growling.

'Oh, come on!' Valkyrie exclaimed, throwing her hands up. Glistening drops of water flew into the air as she did so. 'Not another smart one!'

'What do you mean?' Skulduggery asked, a frown in his voice as he fixed his hat on his head. His exquisite suit was wet- he obviously wasn't happy about it.

'The last vampire who chased me,' she explained. 'stopped when it reached the edge of the water. Like it knew it would die if it followed me in.'

'Normal vampires don't do that,' Blade observed.

'Genius,' Skulduggery quipped.

'Exactly,' Valkyrie said, ignoring Skulduggery's sarcastic comment. 'So why have these two suddenly started doing it?'

Blade paused, then shrugged. 'Beats me.'

'Splash it,' Skulduggery said.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. 'Sorry?'

'The vampire. Splash it with the water. Obviously.'

Valkyrie nodded slowly. 'That's... actually not a bad idea.'

They swam forward. Skulduggery summoned a ball of the salty water using his water manipulation and threw it at the vampire. It's eyes widened and the growling stopped- it started rasping and gagging.

'Idiot vampire,' Valkyrie said, before splashing as much of the water as she could at the vampire. It choked, staggering back.

Blade simply laughed and gave little splashes, each one harming the vampire even more.

'You're a tease,' Valkyrie observed with a smile.

'So are you,' he replied, grinning crookedly.

'Flirt in your own time,' Skulduggery said gruffly.

Valkyrie's smile dropped immediately, and she shot a quick glare at her former mentor before looking back at the vampire, who had dropped to the floor after a good few minutes of choking.

'Is it dead?' Blade asked.

'Only one way to find out,' Skulduggery said, pulling himself smoothly out of the water. Valkyrie followed, easily pulling herself up and to her feet.

She reached a hand down to Blade, who perhaps wasn't as graceful when it came to pulling himself out.

'It's dead,' Skulduggery said, crouched down beside the vampire. 'We don't need to worry about Dusk any more.'

'I wasn't aware we had to worry about him in the first place,' Valkyrie frowned. 'How many more people are plotting behind our backs?'

Skulduggery stood up and patted her on the head. 'Lots of people.' he said, before turning and striding back to the Sanctuary.

**A/N: Late update is late. Sorry author is sorry. (Forgiving readers are forgiving?) O:)  
>I hope you liked the chapter! Sorry it's so late. I killed Dusk off, I know. But I'm building a bigger picture, don't worry.<br>There won't be any updates until Friday, since I'm going on holiday. Woo! First holiday since I was six years old! :D  
>In case anyone's interested, the SATs went well.<br>Thanks for the reviews! I shall reply to them ASAP! (I just realized how horrible it is of me to never reply to nice reviews like yours.)  
>See you soon!<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	36. The Requiem What?

**Chapter 36. **

'The Requiem Ball,' Erskine said, 'is a formal event held to celebrate the fall of the Faceless Ones. It is held every decade, and, usually, only those associated with the war four hundred years ago are invited. But, since I like everyone here, consider this me _formally_ inviting those of you who wouldn't have been able to attend.' He paused and glanced around at everyone in the room. 'Any questions?'

'One,' Valkyrie said. She cocked an eyebrow, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. 'Will there be any refreshments served at this ball?'

Erskine rolled his eyes at her.

It was a surprisingly sunny morning, considering the less-than-sunny weather of the past few days. They were all gathered in Erskine's office, the whole gang- Skulduggery, Tanith, Ghastly, Erskine, Fletcher, Valkyrie and her more personal group of American friends.

'I have a question,' Skulduggery said, leaning forward with his gloved hand raised patiently in the air.

'Go ahead,' Erskine said. He hesitated before adding, 'And you don't need to raise your hand. We're in the Sanctuary, not primary school.'

'Right.' Skulduggery sat back, withdrawing his hand to his sides. '_Why_ are we re-holding the Requiem Ball?'

Tanith frowned. 'Re-holding?'

'Ah. Well, you see, even though the last ball was held only _three_ years ago-'

'Let me guess,' Valkyrie grinned. She was feeling peculiarly giddy this morning. 'You're re-holding it to give us a chance to attend, because you love us so much.'

'Not quite.' Erskine grinned. 'I'm re-holding it because, frankly, you've all been a bunch of miserable sods lately.'

'Not _all _of us,' Hades corrected.

'And some of us have reasons,' Willow said in an uncharacteristically snappy tone. Valkyrie looked over at her younger friend, surprised, but then quickly looked away when Willow didn't meet her gaze. So, something was up _there_. She made a mental note to get to the bottom of it.

'I think a ball would cheer us all up- and, to be honest, who can be bothered thinking up a new one? So the Requiem Ball is being re-held.'

Skulduggery clapped his hands together. 'Excellent,' he said. 'When is it being held?'

'Next Thursday,' the Grand Mage replied.

Blade frowned. 'You're not giving anyone much notice, are you?'

Fletcher shot the green-eyed boy a nasty look. 'A week's long enough, isn't it?'

'I can't believe I missed the damn ball,' Tanith was muttering to herself, looking frustrated. Her head snapped towards Ghastly. 'How could you let me miss the ball?'

'You were too busy trying to kill us all, my dear,' the tailor answered. 'As lovely as you would have looked in a pretty dress...' he hesitated, as if he realized what he was saying and to whom. 'Please don't kill me.'

Tanith looked away sulkily. 'Damn right you're re-holding the Requiem Ball,' she muttered under her breath. But everybody heard her.

****HL****

It was after the short and somewhat exciting meeting about the Requiem Ball that Valkyrie caught up with Skulduggery. It felt like she hadn't spoken to him in an age- and she hadn't, really. Not properly.

'Skul!' she called.

He turned, hat tilted on his skull at a funny angle. Valkyrie chuckled as she reached him and, despite knowing that he may well shoot her hand off for even touching his precious hat, she reached up and adjusted it.

He tilted his head to the side and, with slow and deliberate movements, fixed his hat so that it back in its original position. 'Thank you very much,' he said, before turning and starting to stride away. Valkyrie was frowning, confused at his dismissal, when he reached out and made a beckoning gesture with one bony finger. Valkyrie quickly hurried forward, catching up with him and falling into a steady step beside him.

'So,' she said conversationally. 'How are things going with you?'

'Well,' he replied. 'I've actually-'

'Please don't start a rant.'

His skull swivelled towards her. 'I wasn't going to rant,' he said in an offended tone after a few seconds of staring at her with those empty eye-sockets.

Valkyrie smirked back at him. 'You were _so _going to start ranting. You always do. I would have been happy with a simple _fine, thanks, you? _as an answer.'

He sighed, though he sounded amused when he next spoke. 'I'm fine, thanks, you?'

Valkyrie laughed. 'I'm fine, too,' she said. She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. 'Tell me more about this Requiem Ball, then. What's it like?'

'Formal,' he answered. 'Very, very formal- you'll be required to wear a dress.'

Her face fell. 'A dress?' She'd gotten a little better at dressing up over the years- she'd learn how to apply make-up without getting it in her eye, even though she rarely actually wore the stuff. She knew how to pull on a dress without ripping the fabric to get it past her hips. She'd even learned to walk properly in high heels, after one or two dinner parties held by some of the more sophisticated sorcerers back in America. But none of those things had been put _together_ before- Valkyrie had never worn a dress with make-up and high heels and all that jazz in her life. She'd worn the high heels with jeans and a smart blouse. She'd worn the make-up on special occasions. She'd worn the dresses on those disastrous visits to nightclubs with Hazel and, if she got past the Bouncers, Willow.

'I take it you're still not a big fan of girly things,' Skulduggery said wryly.

'No,' Valkyrie said, looking away in a rather sulky manner. 'I'm not.'

'Didn't you guess by the fact that it was a _ball_ rather than a _dance_ or _party_ that it would be a rather formal get-togther?'

She hesitated. 'I think my mind was blocking the bad ideas out, to be honest.'

'That wasn't a very smart thing for your mind to do, was it?'

Valkyrie scowled at him. 'Well, it's not a problem for _you_, is it? You, with your stupid suits and your stupid skull- you can wear anything without making a fool of yourself.'

'Did you just call my skull stupid?'

'And besides, you don't know what it's like to wear high heels and a dress at the same time! Well, neither do I, really, but all the same- I assume it's difficult!'

'Did you just call my _suits_ stupid?' He stopped and turned her round to face him, putting a bony hand on her shoulder. He sounded understanding when he said, 'That was a childish moment, wasn't it?'

'_Don't_ call me childish.'

'I'll treat you like an adult when you act like one, my little Valkyrie,' he said, patting her on the shoulder before starting to walk again.

Valkyrie made a very grown-up gesture at his back before catching up with him once again.

****HL** **

Hades wasn't looking for Willow when he found her. He was, as a matter of fact, looking for Valkyrie, intending to ask if she wanted to hang out like they had yesterday. But as he entered his mentor's room- he wasn't invading her privacy, as he all-too-often insisted, he was just taking advantage of an open door- he saw a certain red-haired sixteen year-old sat on the bed with a tear-stained face, looking at him with wide eyes.

'Willow!' Hades exclaimed when he saw her. He let go of the door and stepped toward her, concerned. 'What happened- are you okay?'

She shook her head, looking away. 'It's nothing,' she said in a small voice. 'I was waiting for Valkyrie to come back. I... need to tell her something.'

'What is it?' Hades asked gently. He'd never really known what to do when in the presence of crying girls, but this, he supposed, was just instinct. 'You can tell me- I don't know where Valkyrie's actually gone, so... you know, tell me what's up.'

She looked over at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, with tears still leaking out of them. Her lower lip was trembling, and she looked utterly hopeless. Hades walking away from her now would be like walking away from an injured puppy whimpering in the road; he couldn't think of anyone who could do it.

He went over to join her on the bed, already feeling awkward. 'Please,' he said. 'What's wrong?'

She sniffed loudly, wiping her eyes, only to have them fill up with tears straight away after. 'Erskine turned me down,' she said. Well, sobbed is more like it. She finished her sentence with a hiccup.

Hades was confused. 'Wait, what?'

'I- told- Erskine- that- I- had- feelings- for him- and- he- turned- me- down.' The sentence came out agonizingly slowly, as each word was separated with a hiccup. Hades had never understood why people hiccuped when they cried. It annoyed him, really- but he would never tell a crying Willow Arawn that.

His eyes widened as what she had said registered in his mind. 'You- you _what_? Oh, Willow... you know he's, like, four hundred years ol- no, no, please don't cry again-'

'That's exactly what _he_ said!' she wailed.

Hesitantly, Hades reached out and patted her gently on the arm. 'Maybe he just wasn't the right guy for you, Willow...'

In truth, he'd had no idea that her feelings for him had gone further than just an innocent little school-girl crush on an admittedly attractive man. He supposed that he understood why the guy had turned her down- but, jeez, what had he done to make her _cry _like this? 'Did he say anything to you- anything, um, _bad_?'

'I'm not a baby, Hades,' she sniffled. 'No, he let me- he let me down gently. I just... I'd thought he felt the same way about me...' Her face scrunched up and she burrowed her head in Hades' shoulder. Okay, now he was stuck. What could one do when they had a crying girl on their shoulder...? Pry her off and tell her it would all be okay, or let her continue to stain his shirt with her tears and... snot?

Being the gentleman that he was, Hades decided to let her continue her crying. It felt nice to have someone confide in him and trust him like this. He patted her back gently and stroked her hair in soothing motions. 'You'll be okay,' he said quietly. Even he wanted to cringe at his next words, but it was all he could think of. 'You'll find someone right for you eventually.'

She blew her nose- actually _blew her nose_- into Hades' _expensive_ shirt and then looked up at him with those wide, blue eyes. 'You think so?'

He looked down at her and felt a stab of pity, all worried thoughts about his shirt forgotten. 'I know so.'

There were a few seconds of silence as Willow visibly calmed down before her arms went around his neck and she whispered, 'Thank you.'

Hades smiled. 'You're welcome.'

_I feel,_ he thought happily to himself, _like the Dalai freakin' Lama. _

**A/N: Wow. This is late. I AM SHO SHORRYYYYYYYYYYY. :( Forgive a girl for being slow? I just haven't been in a writing mood lately... and then I told myself, 'Right, you little piece of ****, you're going to sit your ass down and write this god-damn chapter!' It worked.  
>… God, my mind coach is harsh.<br>:) I hope you liked this one. Yes, I'm bringing in the Requiem Ball. Yes, it may have something to do with this big plot I'm bringing in. No, I'm still not going to tell you what it is. Yes, you may feel free to review with your guesses. Yes, you may feel free to review even if you're not going to guess.  
>Thank you for reading, reviewing, favouriting, alerting and existing. I'd like to thank my laptop, my TV, my SP books, my diet coke, my Nerf gun...<br>Oh, god, I'm hyper. I don't even know why. It'll probably die down when I'm in this- forgive my rudeness- stupid church thing later.  
>Wish me luck. I'll update sooner rather than later, eh?<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	37. Preparing For A Ball

**Chapter 37. **

Thursday rolled around far too quickly for Valkyrie's liking. The Requiem Ball had been on her mind an awful lot since it was announced, and she was quickly becoming more and more unsure as to why. Was it because she was nervous about wearing a dress and being girly for a night? No, she had been to plenty of formal events with the American Sanctuary over the last few years. What was it, then?

_You're looking forward to it really, _the sly voice in her mind whispered.

_Shut up_, Valkyrie thought firmly, before briefly wondering if she was mad for talking to herself. Did it count as talking to herself, though, if the voice she was talking to belonged to a person? Was Darquesse a person? It had been said quite a lot that they were one person... God, the whole thing was confusing. She quickly shrugged her own concerns off- if talking to yourself was crazy, which she was sure it was, then she must be absolutely insane by now.

'Val?' Willow's voice broke her out of her thoughts, and Valkyrie turned around with a raised eyebrow to see that her friend was standing in the doorway of Valkyrie's room.

'What is it?' she asked, seeing that the girl was biting her lip and looking down. 'Is something wrong?'

'What? No, I'm fine. It's just- well, I don't really have a dress for tonight. Neither does Hazel, and I'm presuming you don't, since you haven't left this place all week.'

Valkyrie stayed silent for a moment, inwardly cursing herself. Damn. How could she have forgotten about the dress? Of course she needed a dress, this was a _ball_. It would probably have to be a fancy dress, too- a long one. 'I guess we'll have to fix that,' she said slowly, letting out a sigh and then a small smile. 'How long has it been since we went out shopping, just us girls?'

'A year,' Willow answered, a grin spreading across her face. 'It's been a _year_ since we went shopping together. Feel like breaking the record?'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'We have no choice, do we?'

She stood up, making her way over to her wardrobe and pulling out the black jacket of the fighting outfit that Ghastly had finally finished for her. Valkyrie pulled the jacket on slowly, coming to a sudden realisation that she could have asked Ghastly to make her a dress as soon as the ball had been announced. It would have saved her a lot of trouble- and she knew that Ghastly would make it just the way she wanted it. She mentally admonished herself for her full week of oblivious stupidity before turning around and facing her friend. 'Let's go.'

They went to fetch Hazel from her room, where she was sat on the bed talking to Maddox and Hades. When the two girls barged into the room and announced that they were kidnapping Hazel to take her shopping, Hades laughed. 'Can I come?' he asked.

Valkyrie rolled his eyes at him. 'No. But I'll buy you a pretty dress, to save you the trouble.'

'But I just can't find the right shoes to wear...'

'Just find any pair that will go with pink and sequins.'

'Oh, that won't be hard.'

They grinned at each other.

'I don't think we'll live to see the day when you two can have a serious conversation with each other,' Maddox remarked dryly, cocking an eyebrow at their exchange, although he did look amused, as did the two girls in the doorway.

'We've had plenty of mature conversations,' Valkyrie said. 'I can use up all the fingers on my right hand counting the mature conversations we've had.'

'Excluding the thumbs,' Hades threw in. 'Thumbs don't count.'

'What? Of course thumbs count. Are you stupid? You must be stupid. That's quite a stupid theory you have,' Valkyrie said, rolling her eyes.

'That's quite a stupid _face_ you have,' Hades retorted, sticking his tongue out.

'If I wanted my comeback, I would have wiped if off your mothe-'

'And it's time to go,' Willow said quickly, swiftly interrupting the rude comment that Valkyrie was about to make.

'Remember my dress,' Hades called as they left the room.

****HL** **

The day was fun, although only one of the three girls was completely comfortable with something as girly and, well, _uncharacteristic_ for them as clothes shopping, and that was Willow. She had a smile on her face as they entered the nearest shopping centre they could find, and she kept that smile even as Valkyrie and Hazel started to groan and complain about the sheer amount of _work_ that went into picking just one dress.

'It's not just one dress,' Willow said haughtily when Hazel voiced her complaints as they stopped at a café for a small break. 'You also have to take into account the accessories and shoes, and-'

'Oh, come on,' Valkyrie groaned. 'It's one ball. Besides, we're probably going to be surrounded by people with bigger physical deformities than Skulduggery.'

_Unless China is coming to the ball, _she reasoned with herself. She wasn't sure if the beautiful librarian coming to the Requiem Ball was a good thing or not. From what she had figured out since returning to Ireland, she and the rest of the group didn't exactly get along any more. Skulduggery, Tanith and Ghastly all sounded bitter whenever China was even mentioned, and that wasn't exactly the best sign of a good relationship.

'Maybe, but we don't have any physical deformities,' Willow continued, unfazed. 'So, you know. When you've got it, _flaunt _it.'

'You're sixteen. Even I didn't _flaunt_ things when I was your age,' Valkyrie raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of the iced coffee she had brought. 'And you know how much I like to flaunt...'

Instead of getting defensive, Willow laughed lightly. 'It's a metaphor, Valkyrie.'

'I know, but-'

'Relax.'

'I could tell you to do the same thing,' she muttered, reaching down to give her foot an exaggerated rub.

'Yeah,' Hazel rolled her eyes. 'I doubt I'll need any more training after this. We'll be in better shape than Valkyrie by the time we're done.'

'It's not that bad,' Willow giggled.

'I'd rather face a group of vampires at night,' Valkyrie said dryly, looking over at the desserts counter, which happened to be right by where she was sat. She was just thinking of getting up to get a chocolate brownie when Willow's voice stopped her.

'We should get back to shopping,' the red-head said, glancing at the clock on the wall. 'It's nearly three pm, and we still haven't found the right dress.'

'I'm pretty sure both of us found perfectly suitable dresses before, but you shot them down before they had a chance to make it off the rack,' Hazel commented, putting a hand over her heart in mock sadness.

'I'm sure they're heartbroken. Come on.'

'I didn't finish my drink-'

'You can drink it on the way, Val. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me that you're more scared of a shopping trip than you are of facing evil sorcerers.'

'I'm not scared of normal shopping trips,' Valkyrie corrected her friend. 'I'm scared of shopping trips with _you_.' She and Hazel both suddenly grabbed each other's arms, pretending to clutch each other in fear as Willow rolled her eyes, grabbing the sleeves of both of their outfits and starting to drag them away. Granted, she wouldn't have been able to do that if either of the girls had put up any sort of real fight.

They were all laughing by the time they reached their next shop, and Valkyrie realised that she hadn't had such good, normal _fun _in... quite a while, to say the least. It was nice to spend some quality time with her two good female friends.

Little did she, nor any of her shopping partners, know, they were being watched by a dark-haired figure with a sullen frown on her face. Her hands were balled up into fists, and she narrowed her eyes at the scene before her before turning away, a plan already formulating in her head.

****HL** **

When they all returned to the Sanctuary that evening, they went up to their rooms to find Blade sat slumped on the floor against Valkyrie's door. He was _asleep_. Valkyrie raised her eyebrows, exchanging a look with her friends before Willow broke out into a wide smile. 'That's cute,' she said warmly. 'He fell asleep waiting for you to return from your epic quest. It's so rom-'

'Yeah, yeah.' Hazel rolled her eyes, but grinned. 'If you'll excuse me, I have a ball to get ready for.'

'It doesn't start for another three hours,' Valkyrie reminded her.

'It's going to take a lot of work to prepare me for this,' Hazel grunted, before pushing open the door to her own room and closing it gently behind her.

Valkyrie looked again at Blade's sleeping form before glancing over at Willow, looking for any reaction other than her amusement. The girl had been looking pretty sullen throughout the previous week, and had been unusually snappy towards a certain Grand Mage. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened, but Valkyrie had asked her anyway, and found out that Erskine had rejected Willow's advances.

That was six days ago. Since then, it had seemed like Willow was completely over Erskine, with a smile almost constantly on her face and not even a flicker of unhappiness in her eyes- but just how good was Willow at hiding her emotions? Valkyrie felt a little guilty that she didn't know enough about one of her closest friends to be able to trust whether she really was happy. It should be obvious, shouldn't it? Willow was smiling, laughing and joking. They were some pretty obvious signs that she was all right.

But Valkyrie was still a little concerned- after all, taking rejection from someone you'd had your sights so firmly set on for so long was heartbreaking and there was no denying it.

'Why are you staring at me?' Willow asked, snapping Valkyrie out of her thoughts once again. The girl seemed to have a knack for doing that.

Valkyrie hesitated, not wanting to break Willow's good mood, but also curious about her friend's mental state. She decided that it was best to just ask and be sure. 'Are you okay? You know- after Erskine and everything. Have you been handling it okay?'

The younger girl was quiet for a moment before answering in a small voice, 'I've been okay. I'd be worse if I didn't have you guys here, I guess. Even Hades has been helping me out a lot, and you know how bad he usually is with comforting people.'

Valkyrie's eyebrow lifted slightly. 'That's good,' she said. She paused for a second, before asking, 'Are you going with anyone to the ball tonight?'

A nervous look came over Willow's face. 'Well, yes,' she said, 'But I wasn't going to tell anyone who.'

'You can tell me,' Valkyrie grinned. 'In fact, you _have _to tell me now.'

'My lips will remain forever sealed.'

'At least until tonight. Oh, come on- at least give me a clue.'

'Nope.' Willow laughed. 'You'll have to wait and see.'

Valkyrie gave her friend a mock-pout. 'You know who I'm going with,' she pointed out sulkily.

'Not because you _told _me, though. It's fairly obvious that you and Blade are going together.'

'The mystery is going to kill me.' Valkyrie rolled her eyes. 'See you later, Willow.'

'Have fun with your boyfriend. See you at the ball.' Willow retreated into her own room, giving Valkyrie a small wave and a smile as she did so.

Valkyrie looked at Blade, and her eyebrow raised again. 'I know you're awake,' she said, moving forward to crouch in front of his slumped form.

His green eyes cracked open, and a lopsided smile spread across his face. 'At least Willow thinks I'm romantic.'

'I think you're romantic,' Valkyrie smiled, the both of them getting to their feet and entering her room. 'Just in the sloppy, pathetic way that I hate.'

'You love me, really,' he teased, planting a quick kiss on her lips before flopping down on her bed. She opted to simply sit on the edge of the bed, and he took this as a sign to rest his head on her lap. She didn't reply to his statement; it made her think. Love. True, real love. Was that what she had with Blade? Was he the person she was going to spend the rest of her life as?

Oh, god. Would she have to be come Valkyrie _Koldo_?

'If we get married,' she said suddenly. 'I'm keeping my last name.'

Blade looked surprised. 'Married? You... you want to get married?'

'No.' She paused, frowning. 'I mean, it's not that I don't want to marry you, I just- ugh. Shut up. You know what I mean. If we do happen to get married, I'm staying as Valkyrie Cain, thank you kindly.'

'How very feminist of you,' Blade grinned. 'The guys told me that you went shopping. Did you get your dress for tonight?'

'I did,' she confirmed, gesturing to the three shopping bags she had hastily dropped by the wardrobe. 'I also got my shoes, accessories and make-up. Most of which I will never wear again after tonight.'

'I'm sure you'll be the most beautiful girl at the ball,' he assured her, reaching up to gently stroke her hair.

'Of course I will be,' she said, rolling her eyes as if it were obvious. 'I'm _me_.'

'I find your narcissism endearing.'

'It isn't narcissism, it's honesty.'

'My point exactly.'

Valkyrie grinned, lowering her head so it hovered over his. 'You love me, really,' she whispered, repeating his earlier words. They proceeded to engage in a deep kiss. She briefly wondered how this all had happened so quickly- they'd been in Ireland for but a few weeks, and in that time she had managed to reconnect with her old friends, get Tanith back, release Darquesse, reel the bitch back in, start a relationship with Blade, defeat the group of creeps who had been stalking her, recover from a very brief and very rubbish torture session, talk to her parents again, and they'd even pretty much solved the case that had brought them to Ireland in the first place. In no particular order. And tonight, she had to attend a ball. How had they fit it all in? It all seemed like it would take months. She threaded her fingers through her boyfriend's soft, dark hair as her own hair fell to curtain both of their faces. Her hands moved down from his hair, trailing down his face, down his neck, past his shoulder, clutching at his shirt. The kiss deepened even further, their tongues dancing together, battling for dominance.

And then Blade pulled away slightly, murmuring, 'Maybe we should stop before things go too far.'

'Too far?' Valkyrie questioned. 'We're hardly doing anything. Now shut up.' She kissed him again, and he hesitated for just a second before kissing her back. They stayed like this for however long- Valkyrie wasn't exactly counting the seconds- before a knock at the door interrupted them. They didn't even have time to move from their position- the exact same that they had started in- before the door was flung open.

'Am I interrupting something?' Skulduggery's voice sounded, velvety as ever.

Valkyrie's eyes widened and she immediately sat up straight, whipping her head around to look at her mentor and friend. Her stare quickly turned into a glare. 'Yes,' she said through gritted teeth, feeling Blade pull himself into a standing position her. Her lap felt cold, missing the comfortable warmth that his head had provided already. 'You are. What do you want?'

Skulduggery's head tilted to the side. 'I was wondering if you've seen my hat,' he said, seemingly undisturbed by Valkyrie's irritation.

It was just now that she noticed that there was no hat perched on top of his skull; it gleamed in the dim light of her room. 'No, I've not seen your _hat_. How did you even lose it? It's never off your head. Skull. Whatever.'

'Someone seems to have taken it,' the skeleton murmured. He gave a shrug, then reached up to tap the two symbols etched onto his collarbone. Waxy skin flowed over that skull, light blond hair growing from the scalp, dull blue eyes replacing the empty eye sockets that had been there not a moment ago. He looked pointedly between Valkyrie and Blade a few times, before his stern gaze finally settled on Blade. 'I hope you didn't have less-than-honourable intentions towards my little apprentice here,' he said.

Valkyrie groaned, rolling her eyes and running a hand through her hair. 'For god's sake, Skul.'

'I'm concerned for your well-being,' Skulduggery insisted, before turning back to Blade. 'Well?'

'I'm twenty years-old-'

'I, uh...' Blade rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkward and uncomfortable. 'I'm not planning on, uh, sleeping with her any time soon, if that's what-'

'Why?' Skulduggery demanded, apparently not satisfied. 'Don't you like her enough to sleep with her? Is there something wrong with her?'

Valkyrie shook her head, muttering darkly, 'I have a name.'

Blade's eyes were wide now. 'I didn't mean _that_- I mean, I'd love to...' he faltered, a helpless look taking over his features as he shot a pleading look at Valkyrie, who gave him a re-assuring smile before snapping her head back towards Skulduggery, glowering.

'You, go away,' she said, getting up and making to push Skulduggery out the door. 'I'll see you at the ball tonight, okay? Find your hat. You look weird without it. Oh, and you're a bloody idiot.'

And with that, she pushed him out of her room and shut the door in his face, staying by the door until she heard his grumbling and his footsteps retreat. She let out a sigh and turned back to Blade. 'Sorry about that,' she said, shooting him an apologetic glance. 'He, uh... doesn't normally do that.'

'Very protective of you, isn't he?' Blade frowned.

She shrugged, looking away. 'He doesn't normally do that,' she repeated. 'I guess now that I'm older, I... oh, I don't know. Forget it. He won't do it again.'

'He's scary.'

'I'll make sure the big bad skeleton doesn't get you,' Valkyrie said, giving him a quick peck on the lips before shooing him out. 'Now go. The ball is in three hours, and I have a _lot_ to do. Come get me from my room five minutes before it starts, no sooner.' She blew him a kiss before giving him one final shove and then slamming the door.

****HL** **

Valkyrie gave a small sigh as she pulled the garment box from one of the bags. The dress had been expensive- _all _of their dresses had been expensive. Beautiful, as Willow had assured them multiple times, but _expensive_. And with the shoes, too... and, of course, the pretty silver necklace with matching bracelets. Although Valkyrie had argued that it was downright stupid to spend so much on something that was just for one night, Willow had insisted that she buy it all.

But she had to admit, she was kind of glad that her friend had talked her into buying all the stuff. It really would look nice, and she did kind of need an excuse to get out of her fighting gear. Even if it had pretty much emptied her purse.

It didn't quite take her the full three hours to get ready, even with all the difficult, life-changing decisions she had to made. Shower, no shower? Shower. Hair pinned up, hair left down? Hair left down. Curly hair, straight hair? Curly. Red lipstick, no lipstick? Red lipstick. There were more petty decisions to make than she had anticipated, but still, it only took two and a bit hours for her to be finally satisfied with her appearance. She beamed at her reflection in the small compact mirror she had taken from her bag. All right. Great. She looked fantastic, in her own humble opinion. Red lips, smoky eyes. Granted, she couldn't see any more than her face, thanks to the rather inconvenient lack of a mirror in her room, but her face looked fantastic, anyway.

She glanced down at her attire. The dress she wore was long and ruby red in colour, fitted perfectly around her torso and then hanging loosely to the floor from her hips. Naturally, it had Valkyrie's characteristic splash of black with the dark swirls that decorated the bodice. It was a beautiful dress. Really beautiful. Hopefully, it suited Valkyrie and was fitting for the occasion.

'Now, what to do for the next forty-five minutes?' she wondered aloud to herself, pursing her lips and looking around the room. There was nothing with which she could entertain herself. She let out a loud sigh, then moved over to the window, looking out at the view. It wasn't a great view, but what could she expect from a Sanctuary in Roarhaven?

After a few minutes of looking out at the dreary grey sky- she had long since said goodbye to the previous week's sunny weather- and pouring rain, Valkyrie was bored. Forty-five minutes until the ball started. Forty minutes until Blade would take her on his arm and escort her down to the Sanctuary's Great Hall, where the ball was being held.

Ugh. Forty minutes of _boredom_. She could go and talk to one of her friends, she supposed- but she wasn't sure who would be getting ready and who wouldn't be. Willow, for example, would probably wish to not be disturbed until every inch of her was ready. Hazel would have spent more than half of her getting-ready time sulking about the fact that she had to dress up, and then would realise that she only has a half hour to get ready and rush through everything. Hades would have slept through most of it before getting up, throwing on a suit and then falling asleep again. Blade probably would have done the same. Maddox, too. Her friends were so predictable.

Valkyrie sat on her bed and then, heaving another sigh, clicked her fingers together, summoning a small flame. She smiled slightly as she felt the familiar rush of magic surge through her body, a feeling she had long since gotten used to but still enjoyed.

She played with the fire for a good few minutes before remembering something and looking over at her bedside table, on which lay her plain black Necromancer ring. She bit her lip, wondering if she should put it on- just for the night. There was something, something strange, drawing her to the little thing. And the more she thought about it, the more the idea of putting it on appealed to her. After all, a ball was the perfect opportunity for a bad guy to strike out, and what good would she be if all she had on her person was a few fireballs, a gust of wind, a splash of water and a pair of six-inch heels? Well, maybe she was underestimating her Elemental powers. They were just as strong as her Necromancer ones- if not stronger, thanks to them being in use for eight years. But... she couldn't explain it, this feeling, tempting her to slide the ring onto her finger and keep it there all night. It was like a whisper in her mind, telling her that-

_A whisper in her mind_. Valkyrie's eyes widened with realisation. Darquesse. It had to be. Darquesse was drifting close to the surface again. Darquesse wanted her to have her Necromancy ring with her tonight... and there could only be one reason why she'd want that. She was planning to take over. Tonight. At the ball, a public event. In a hall filled with sorcerers, the kind of sorcerers who would no doubt try to stop her. What a perfect target. It couldn't get much better than this for good old Darquesse. She narrowed her eyes, sitting up a little straighter, clenching her fists.

'I will not let you manipulate me,' Valkyrie hissed under her breath. 'Not tonight.'

If anyone overheard her, she would sound ridiculous, she knew. Talking to herself. _Threatening_ herself. She stayed in that position for a good few minutes, with her body rigid and her eyes glaring at nothing in particular, before the lack of response made her feel slightly ridiculous.

Okay, maybe she had overreacted. She was tense. Worried. _Taking my anger out on my own sub-conscious, _she thought to herself, cocking an eyebrow as she ran a hand through her hair, before scowling as she realised that she will have messed it up after spending such a long time making sure that it looked perfect.

Ah, well.

Thirty five minutes to go.

She groaned.

****HL** **

When Blade knocked on her door, Valkyrie all but ran out to him and slammed the door behind her, smiling widely when she saw that his hand was raised as if he were about to knock again, and a slightly dazed expression was on his face.

'That,' she said, taking his arm and looping it through hers as she dragged him away, 'was the slowest, most painful forty minutes of my life.'

'I, uh... I think you've had worse.'

'You know I can't handle boredom.'

'I do know that.' Blade grinned, looking her up and down. 'You look beautiful.'

'I spent two and a half hours getting ready. I emptied my purse getting all of this-' she gestured to her body, '- and I had to endure at least five hours of shopping to get it all. I'm expecting no less than ten whole-hearted compliments tonight.'

'You look absolutely gorgeous and, right now, I fear for my life.'

She reached over with her free hand and patted his shoulder. 'Good doggy. You look handsome in your tux, by the way- if any beautiful women approach you tonight, be sure to let them know you're with me.'

'There won't be anyone more beautiful than you tonight.'

'I have you trained well.' She grinned and then glanced behind them, searching for signs that they were being followed by the rest of their group. 'What, has everyone else decided to not show up?'

'No, they headed down earlier.'

'Why didn't we head down earlier?'

'Because you told me to pick you up no more than five minutes before the ball starts.'

She groaned. 'Right. Not exactly one of my finer moments. In future, pick me up earlier than I ask.'

'But... if I don't obey you, you'll _beat_ me,' he said, his face twisted in mock fear.

She laughed. They continued like this until they reached the Great Hall, talking and laughing easily.

'Are you ready for this?' Blade asked as they stopped outside the huge doors, his voice lower than a murmur.

'I'm sure it will be _fun_,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'And between the gloating sorcerers who were invited and the bitter sorcerers who will be crashing the party, we're sure to get a lot of attention.'

'Great.'

'Yeah. Just... try not to punch anyone.'

'It should be _me_ telling _you _that.'

'I'll try not to punch anyone, too.' She took a deep breath and made sure her arm was tightly hooked with his before they entered the Great Hall.

**A/N: Warning- if you don't like ridiculously long-winded author's notes, LOOK AWAY NOW.  
>Okay.<br>Oh my god. Oh my god. How many months has it been?  
>What date is it? Where am I? What has my life come to? I've been in a cave for the last... -insert amount of time here-. Well, by cave, I mean my house. BUT BUT BUT, before you leap at me for not updating, I spend a good two weeks of this time in Barcelona, a good 'nother week of it in London, and... yeah, I have no excuse for the rest of the time. You may now leap at me and claw my eyeballs out. I deserve it.<br>On the bright side, though... I have updated, as you should be able to see. If you can't see that, then you're probably not reading this. I'd say hello, but you can't see it, so I shan't.  
>I was going to give a really, really long chapter. Then I realised that the fifteen pages I'd written for this chapter would be a little too much, and most of it was rubbish anyway, so I cut it in half (eh, almost in half, anyway) and it's now seven pages.<br>So, what caused me to come back now, you may ask? Many things. I got Kingdom of the Wicked a few days ago (I think Amazon made a mistake since it shouldn't be out in the UK yet, but I think I'll forgive it, to be honest) and that's got me all Skulduggery-d. Also, I missed you guys. :( Also, I took a look at my traffic stats and reviews, and my heart kind of broke because I've been neglecting 568 visitors and 193 reviewers. Sorry, you guys. I feel so bad that I'm not even cheesed off that I don't have the same number of reviews as I have visitors... ;)  
>This author's note is ridiculous, I know, I should stop talking. But I'm afraid I must add more. Thank you to everyone who has been patient, and has reviewed and subscribed and added to favourites and breathed. Please feel free to do so again. I'm going to update very quickly from now on! :D Isn't that good news? It is. It is good news. Not as regularly as usual, I concede, but I assure you that there won't be any more five-month gaps in-between updates. I swear it.<br>Thank you!  
>~AlisaPhenom.<br>PS, Yes, I used Great Hall. I know the Sanctuary probably doesn't have one. I do not care, I was at a low point in my life. **


	38. Unleashed

**Chapter 38. **

As soon as Valkyrie and Blade entered the Hall, they were hit with the sound of music playing- classical music. On violins, and flutes, and piano, and... she couldn't even identify the rest of the instruments. She groaned, for the third time that evening. And they hadn't even started dancing yet.

'Oh, there you are.' Maddox's voice sounded beside them, and they turned to find themselves faced with their group. Maddox had a teasing look of disapproval on his face. 'Two and a half minutes late. What do you have to say for yourselves?'

'At least we're fashionably late,' Blade said, before striking the kind of dramatic pose you'd expect from a fashion model.

They all laughed, and then Valkyrie's eyes zeroed in on Hades' arm wrapped around Willow's shoulder. She raised an eyebrow. 'I see now why you wouldn't tell me about your date,' she said, giving a wide smile. 'You two are...?'

'Oh!' Willow looked surprised. 'No, no... we came with each other because neither of us... we didn't have anyone else to go with.'

'Well,' Valkyrie said, suppressing her frown. 'Great. You look beautiful, Willow. So do you, Hazel- your hair looks wonderful like that.'

Hazel beamed. She was wearing her hair in an elegant up-do, with her fringe pinned back for once. It took away the unapproachable vibe she had been giving off when she had her hair covering her eyes. And the dress she wore was downright stunning- light grey in colour, decorated with swirls of white and silver, with sleeves that ended just past her elbows.

Willow, meanwhile, rolled her eyes playfully. 'Of course we look beautiful. I picked everything, didn't I?'

Valkyrie had to admit it; the girl had picked well. Willow's dress was light blue and surprisingly simple, considering that she had been talking all morning about what a beautiful and fancy dress she was going to wear. Not that this dress wasn't beautiful- it was, with its fitted bodice and long trail.

'Well,' Blade said, mimicking his brother and throwing an arm around Valkyrie. 'Us three guys are going to be the envy of all men tonight.'

'Isn't it funny how we all ended up going with each other?' Hazel murmured, looking around. 'Me and Mad, Willow and Hades, Val and Blade...'

'Roarhaven will now be officially known as the City of Love,' Hades smirked.

Valkyrie smiled a large smile, which then widened even further when she spotted a certain skeleton detective over Hades' shoulder. 'If you'll excuse us,' she said, grabbing Blade's hand and dragging him away with her, adding over her shoulder, 'We'll catch you later.'

'Well, don't you look dashing?' she smirked when she reached Skulduggery.

Skulduggery tilted his skull to the side. 'That's because I'm wearing a tuxedo and I found my hat. No thanks to you.'

'Where was it?'

'On my hat stand.'

'You didn't think to look there?'

'I... no.' He hesitated. 'You look very nice.'

She snorted. 'Don't undermine it, Skul- I look gorgeous.'

'That's true. Will I have to be fending off more boys tonight, or just the one?'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes, tugging Blade closer. 'You will not be _fending off_ anyone ever again.'

'Oh, I think I will.'

His eye sockets were fixed firmly on Blade, who looked uncomfortable under Skulduggery's empty gaze. He fidgeted, shooting a look at Valkyrie. 'I think I'll go talk to my brother and Maddox,' he said.

Valkyrie gave him and understanding smile as he went away, then she turned back to glare at Skulduggery. 'Stop scaring my boyfriend away.'

When he spoke, Skulduggery sounded amused. 'But it's so amusing.'

'It's damn annoying.'

'That's what makes it amusing.'

She rolled her eyes, slapping him light-heartedly on the arm. Then she glanced around the large room, a hopeful look on her face. 'Are Tanith and Ghastly here?'

'They are. Or, at least, they were. They may or may not have been kicked out for public acts of indecency.'

'_What_?'

'Not many people my age appreciate seeing a couple with their tongues down each others throats.'

'Ew,' Valkyrie muttered. 'Did not need that image. I think I'll just leave them to that, then. Who else is here that I actually like?'

'Erskine and Anton, and a few other old friends of mine. Some other sorcerers who I'm sure you _wouldn't_ want to punch.'

'Is China here?'

There was a silence from the skeleton, before he answered in a voice much darker than before, 'Yes. Over there.' He nodded toward the far corner of the room, where the most beautiful woman in the world stood, surrounded by men _and _women with dopey looks on their faces. She wore a dress that was a gorgeous green in colour, but didn't look like she was enjoying the attention she was receiving. Valkyrie wanted to go over and talk to her, but knew better than to do that right now. She would wait until later, when Skulduggery wasn't with her.

Skulduggery, though... his tone when he spoke had certainly made her raise an eyebrow. Tanith obviously wasn't the only one who was mad at China. What on earth happened while she was gone? 'Skulduggery,' she started. 'Why do you hate China all of a sudden?'

He didn't answer for a short while, and Valkyrie was beginning to think that he never would, but then he finally spoke. 'She did something.' His voice was quiet, and strangely hollow. Quite uncharacteristic of the normally talkative skeleton. 'Something unforgivable.'

Valkyrie cocked an eyebrow. 'Unforgivable? What did she do?'

'She did something, a long time ago-'

'Skulduggery, for god's sake, just tell me. What was this something?'

Another bout of quietness from the skeleton. Then, 'She led my family to Serpine.'

Valkyrie stared at him, her mouth dropping open. 'She... she what?'

'China was the one who led my family into the trap Serpine had set for them. She led them to their deaths, fully aware of what she was doing. She looked on and did nothing as they were killed. It was all her fault.'

Valkyrie continued to stare, her mouth refusing to shut. She didn't know what to say. 'Skulduggery, I-'

She was interrupted by Skulduggery 's sudden noise of distaste as someone tapped on Valkyrie's shoulder. She turned, mind still reeling from the news she had received, and her heart dropped when she saw Fletcher. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt, but there was also a spark of determination in his eyes. Valkyrie took one look at his face and wanted to groan.

'May I have this dance?' he asked, looking anywhere but at her.

'Of course,' she replied after a moment's hesitation, taking his offered hand and shooting Skulduggery a helpless glance, hoping her eyes showed the apology she wanted to voice. He merely shrugged his bony shoulders, and Valkyrie was sure that she heard a chuckle pass his non-existent lips before he turned and wandered off, a spring to his step. It hadn't taken much for him to cheer up, then. _Damn you, skeleton, _she scowled in her mind.

She turned her attention back to Fletcher. He hesitated before flashing her a smile. 'Hey.'

She nodded in reply.

'You look really good. Like, really good. Great. Fantastic.'

'So do you.'

'I know.' He flashed a grin, but it fell almost as quickly as it appeared when she didn't return it.

She and Fletcher started to sway to the music, her hands on his shoulders, his hands on her waist. The slow, romantic song that played in the background didn't exactly help the awkwardness of the situation.

'So,' he said, after a minute or so of silent dancing. 'We need to talk.'

_Finally, we get to the point_. 'We do,' she agreed. She glanced down at her feet; at the pretty shoes peeping out beneath her long dress. 'I think I should start. I'm sorry, Fletcher. For breaking up with you, and for being so, uh... blunt.'

He nodded. 'I'm sorry for taking it so hard... although I don't take back what I said. I stand by it.'

She frowned. 'So you think I'm selfish?'

'You _are_ selfish.'

'That's debatable.'

'Let's not turn this into an argument.'

'You're doing a great job of that.'

'I'm sorry,' he muttered. 'I... I miss you, Val. I miss being able to talk to you. I mean, granted, we didn't talk much- mainly, I took orders from you and followed you around like a lost puppy-'

'Perhaps we should have this conversation at a time in the future when you'll sound less bitter.'

'I'm sorry,' he said again.

'I think we should stop talking.'

'No, no,' he insisted. 'We need to get this thing sorted.'

'Right,' she said, raising an eyebrow as he twirled her. She was replaying the moment in her room over and over again in her mind. How she'd been so cold to him, acted so uncaring, telling him that their relationship had meant nothing to her. And he'd left, clearly upset, clearly furious.

'Did you mean it?' he asked, bringing her attention back to the current situation. 'What you said, when we... when we broke up?'

'I said a lot of things,' she said, deliberately avoiding his gaze. 'Which one are you talking about?'

'Did you mean it when you said that what we had meant nothing?'

She let her eyes close for a few moments before opening them and letting her gaze meet Fletcher's. To lie, or not to lie? To save his feelings and keep a friend, or turn him away and ensure that no future mix-ups ensued? She bit her lip, and hesitated. 'Do I have the option of phoning a friend?'

'Don't do that, Val! Don't make a joke of this- this is serious! Do you have any idea how much it hurt me to hear that, to hear that my ex-girlfriend, whom I spent years searching for, didn't even care about me any more? I – I told you that I lo-'

She grimaced, glancing around. 'You're raising your voice,' she told him quietly. 'Calm down.'

'Don't try to tell me you don't care about me,' he said, but he obediently lowered his voice. 'Please, Val. Just tell me you were lying, and I'll be satisfied.'

She looked at him. Frowned. Sighed. Closed her eyes. Listened as the music changed- this tune's beat even slower than the last. 'Of course I was lying, Fletch,' she said finally, cracking open her eyes to meet his once again. 'I just... I needed you to realise that what we have is finished.'

He nodded, looking down.

'It's been finished for a long time,' she said.

'It doesn't have to be,' he stated.

'Yes, it does.'

'Why?'

'I don't want a repeat conversation, Fletcher,' she said, taking her hands from his shoulders and stepping back. 'I want to stay friends with you, but I don't want to if all you're going to do is moan about us not being together.'

'That's not what I'm doing,' he protested. 'You can't expect me to just immediately _accept _this.'

'I'm not expecting that,' she said. 'You've had _four years_ to accept it.'

'How was I supposed to know you were breaking up with me?'

'Are you kidding? I _left_! Did it not occur to you that maybe, just maybe, the relationship was _over_?'

'Did it not occur to _you _that maybe, _just maybe_, I'd try to look for you?'

'Of course that occurred to me-'

'That maybe I didn't _want _the relationship to be over? That maybe-'

'Fletcher,' she snapped. 'Shut up.' She glanced around. A few heads were turned their way, curious about the obvious argument. A quick glare from Valkyrie turned them all away. She looked back at Fletcher, cocking an eyebrow and putting a hand on her hips. 'Great. So, by doing all this, you've made me feel bad, and that's about it. Is that what you were hoping to achieve?'

'It's good enough for me,' he muttered.

She rolled her eyes. 'Stop being childish. Talk to me when you're ready to discuss this like an adult. Honestly, Fletcher, you're twenty three.'

'I'm _older_ than you.'

'Act like it.'

'Is everything okay here?' Skulduggery's voice was a welcome interruption.

Valkyrie looked at him, gave him a tight smile. 'Peachy,' she replied, shooting a look at Fletcher. 'I hate to end this wonderful conversation, but I haven't even danced with my date yet. Have a good night, Fletcher. Walk with me, Skulduggery.'

She didn't miss the look of hurt and anger on Fletcher's face as she grabbed Skulduggery's arm and dragged him away with her. 'What were you arguing about?' he asked conversationally.

'Oh, you know,' she said, sighing. 'Life, death, our lack of relationship.'

'What did he say?'

She shook her head. 'It's not important.'

'Did he upset you?' Skulduggery sounded more concerned now, acting once again like the father figure Valkyrie considered him to be. 'Would you like me to punch him?'

She smiled. 'He didn't upset me that much- but you _can _punch him, you know, if you happen to feel like it.'

'I always feel like punching things.' Skulduggery stopped walking, patting her shoulder lightly. 'I'm going to resume the conversation I was having with Erskine, Ghastly, Tanith and Anton now. You'll be-'

'Yes, I'll be okay.' She waved her hand dismissively. 'Give them my best. I'll talk to them later. Right now, though, I really do owe my boyfriend a dance.' She paused. 'Thank you for saving me.'

'I was saving you?'

'Fletcher's temper seems to have gotten a lot shorter since I left.'

'It's probably the weather.' Skulduggery withdrew his hand from her shoulder, which he had been- quite annoyingly- patting awkwardly for a good minute or so now, and then started to walk away to his old friends. Valkyrie watched him go before grabbing a glass of bubbly liquid from the tray being carried by the passing waiter, and taking a big gulp before heading back over to Blade.

He was talking with Willow and Hazel. 'I hope I'm not interrupting the seduction of my boyfriend here,' she grinned as she approached them.

Blade grinned. 'Don't be jealous, babe. I can't help that all the girls want me.'

Valkyrie frowned. '_Babe_?'

Hazel snorted. 'Oh, please. I'm only talking to this idiot-' she playfully nudged Blade in the ribs, '- because my boyfriend is dancing with Hades. They're having a guy moment.' She added the last part in a conspiratorial whisper.

'Did you say guy?' Blade smirked. 'I think you mean gay.'

'Oh, hush,' Willow said, slapping his arm.

'They're getting a lot of weird looks,' Valkyrie observed with an amused grin. 'I don't think the people here are quiet accustomed to their sense of humour.'

'Is anyone?' Hazel laughed.

'Is that champagne?' Willow asked, gesturing to the half-empty glass in Valkyrie's hand.

'Yes,' she replied, draining the rest of the liquid in one, ignoring Blade's teasing chant of _chug, chug, chug_. 'And you cannot have any,'

'Why?' Willow whined.

'Because you're sixteen, and... and... ah, what the hell. I was driving when I was thirteen. Go get some, and take this back while you're at it,' Valkyrie said, handing the younger girl her empty champagne flute.

Willow grinned excitedly, and then left, pulling Hazel along with her. 'This does not mean I encourage under-age drinking,' Valkyrie called after them.

'You may have just unleashed a monster,' Blade quipped.

'I know.' Valkyrie shrugged. 'But now we can dance together without rudely abandoning our friends. Let's go.'

Blade grinned that lopsided grin she loved so much, then whisked her away to the dance floor. Valkyrie got the feeling that the only songs they played were slow as they started to sway.

'So,' Blade said. 'I saw you dancing with that Fletcher guy.'

'I'm glad your eyesight is okay.'

'You and him used to date.'

'Ah, there go my worries about your hearing, too...'

'Should I be worried?'

Valkyrie snorted. 'No. He isn't going to steal me away.'

'Good. Because, uh... I don't want to lose you.'

'I don't blame you,' she remarked, smirking. 'I'm amazing, aren't I?'

'Yes,' he replied quickly. 'And beautiful. You're very beautiful and your dress is lovely.'

'That's compliment number four. Six to go. Good boy,' she praised.

'Why do I let you do this to me?'

'Because you love me.' She smiled, then laughed as he dipped her. It was a rather unconventional move, considering the dirty looks they received from the more prim and proper sorcerers around, but she didn't care, and neither did Blade.

'That's true,' Blade said thoughtfully when he pulled her back in.

She smirked again. 'Did it take you the full three years to figure that out, or...?'

'I've always been a slow learner, haven't I?' He grinned, leaning in to give her a kiss, and she happily obliged.

'We should stop before we get kicked out for public acts of indecency,' she said teasingly, thinking of Tanith and Ghastly, whom were obviously still in the hall, talking to Skulduggery and the others.

'Eh, this whole thing is too fancy for our tastes anyway, right?'

She pulled away, chuckling. 'Nevertheless,' she said. 'We came here to make polite conversation and mock other people's lives. So that's what we should probably do.'

'I'm not good at talking to strangers,' Blade said in a whiny voice. 'I hate people.'

'Do you hate me?'

'No, ma'am.'

'Just pretend they're me... less amazing versions of me, obviously, but me, all the same.'

He rolled his eyes. 'Is that what you do when you're trying to be nice to people? Pretend they're you?'

'Mostly, yeah. Just stick with me tonight, all right? I'll try not to let you stab anyone.'

'Got it.'

She smiled, planting another quick kiss on his lips, before pulling away. 'Let us socialize. I've had enough of dancing.'

'You've danced with two people up to now.'

'I get bored easily.' She led him off the dance floor and over to where she saw Skulduggery in his conversation with Tanith, Ghastly, Anton and Erskine.

'Hi,' she said to the group, standing next to Skulduggery.

'Valkyrie,' Tanith smiled warmly. 'You look great.'

'So do you,' Valkyrie returned sincerely. Tanith's dress was yellow and elegant and gorgeous. 'It's weird to see you not wearing brown leather.'

'I don't wear it all the time, you know. It's uncomfortable to sleep in- I would know, I've tried. So I occasionally change into pyjamas.' She grinned. 'Only occasionally, though.'

They laughed.

'Thanks for coming over and turning our conversation about fighting into a conversation about _clothing_,' Erskine said, rolling his eyes. It didn't escape Valkyrie's notice that his voice was rather slurred. 'And here I thought you were one of the boys.' He drained the glass that was in his hand and then put it on the table next to them, accidentally knocking a few other empty ones as he did so. 'Oops.'

'And you wonder why you don't have a date.'

'I do have a date,' the Grand Mage proclaimed proudly, slinging an arm around an uncomfortable-looking Anton Shudder's shoulder. 'I came with Anton. Right, Anty?'

Anton grimaced in reply. 'Please get off me.'

'Are you jealous because Ghastly was flirting with me?'

Anton sighed.

'Forgive him,' Ghastly said. 'He's had a few too many drinks.'

'I'd gathered. It's a bit early for getting drunk, though, isn't it?' Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

'He's a great Grand Mage, isn't he?'

'Yeah.' Valkyrie snorted. 'He's setting a fine example.'

'Who's your friend?' Anton asked, having not-so-subtly edged away from Erskine, nodding at Blade. 'I haven't seen him before.'

'That's because the handsome lad is-'

'I can introduce him, thanks, Erskine.' Valkyrie interrupted, rolling her eyes. 'Anton, this is Blade Koldo. He comes from the American Sanctuary.'

'The American Sanctuary?' Anton's eyebrows raised, and he turned to Blade.

'Yeah,' the green-eyed boy smiled, squeezing Valkyrie's hand.

'What brings you over to Ireland?'

'Long story,' Skulduggery muttered.

'Yeah, well, this is going to be a long night,' Anton retorted, stopping Erskine from picking up another drink from the passing waiter. The passing waiter with lobster claws for hands. Valkyrie shook her head in amusement, taking the champagne flute that Erskine had been stopped from taking.

Skulduggery looked at her with those empty eye sockets. 'I don't think so,' he said disapprovingly, making to take the drink from her.

'Hey, it's legal over here.' She distanced herself from him before taking a sip, throwing her mentor a grin. 'Twenty years old, remember?'

He gave a grunt, crossing his arms over his chest, muttering something under his breath. The others laughed, Erskine the loudest- he even slugged Skulduggery in the arm, something which he would probably be made to regret later on.

Then attention went back to Blade, and he explained to Anton how Valkyrie had gone over to America, and then got called back, and they decided to go with her. Thankfully, he told the short version.

'And then they all lived happily ever after,' Erskine said when Blade had finished.

Valkyrie frowned. 'He's not the most dignified drunk, is he?'

'Oh, most definitely not,' Skulduggery said.

Ghastly chuckled. 'You should have seen him back in the thriving days of the Dead Men, Valkyrie. Some of the funniest times of my life were seeing him get drunk in public.'

They all shared the Elder's laughter. The night wasn't going as badly as Valkyrie expected. She conceded that it was actually fun, arguments with Teleporters aside- as long as she stuck with her friends, she'd be fine. She smiled into her glass as she took another drink.

'Are you sure he isn't drinking something stronger than champagne?' Tanith questioned wryly, watching with an expression of amazement as Erskine started making kiss-y noises at Anton, who looked like he wanted to return to his hotel and never make the mistake of visiting the Sanctuary again.

'Honestly, I lost track of what he was drinking when he reached for the eighth glass,' he muttered. Then he perked up, looking past Valkyrie at something. 'If you'll excuse me, a see a pretty girl all on her own over there.'

Ghastly laughed and slapped his friend on the back, and then Anton was gone, and Erskine chose to use Skulduggery as his replacement teddy bear. The skeleton sighed. 'Somebody get him off me before I get arrested for punching the Grand Mage to death.'

Valkyrie sniggered as Ghastly pulled Erskine off Skulduggery. 'I think,' she said, 'that you should get him out of here before someone sees him. Don't want the Grand Mage getting a bad reputation.'

'A wise idea,' Skulduggery said. 'But I'm afraid it's his part of his job to be here. He's an important man, apparently.'

Ghastly frowned. 'He's an important man who's trying to hug me. Valkyrie, Tanith, you two take care of him.'

'Us?' Tanith asked, sounding appalled, but Ghastly had already all but thrown the Grand Mage at Valkyrie and stepped back, raising his hands in the air as if in surrender.

'Um, yeah, no,' Valkyrie said, holding Erskine at arm's length, keeping her drink as far away from him as she could. He kept reaching for it.

'You, Valkyrie, look completely ravishing tonight,' Erskine said in a cooing voice. 'Absolutely lovely. Now may I please have that drink?'

'Erskine. I'm flattered. But you're much too old for me, and I'm afraid that if I let you drink any more, you'll start losing your dignity.' She rolled her eyes. 'Tanith, take him, please. Looking after drunk men isn't in my job description.'

Tanith shook her head, laughing. Valkyrie frowned and then shot a pleading look at Blade, but he, too, was laughing. As soon as she turned towards Ghastly, he shook his head. Skulduggery merely bowed his head, then stepped away. 'You, my dear accomplice... you are on your own.'

'I hate you all.' She scowled her fiercest scowl, which deepened even further when Erskine started patting her head. 'What the hell is he doing?'

'He seems to be petting you.'

'_Why_ is he petting me? Make him stop it.'

'Maybe he thinks you're a dog?' Blade offered, then winced as Valkyrie glared at him. 'A beautiful dog. A very beautiful dog.'

'Tanith,' Valkyrie said evenly. 'Take him off me before I throw him on the floor and walk away.'

'What is this, Pass The Grand Mage?' Tanith smirked. 'Just lean him against the chair and pretend he's asleep or something.'

'Yes, because I try to seduce people into giving me drinks when I'm asleep, too.'

'Do you?' Erskine frowned. 'That's a little bit silly.'

'Don't you talk to me about being silly,' she muttered, before pushing him away from her and then reaching out to steady him on his feet. 'Would you like to go and interrupt Anton and that girl's dance, Erskine? You would, wouldn't yo- no, stop it, let go. Let go.' She slapped his hand away from her body and took a step back, frowning. 'Welcome to Roarhaven. Try to be nice, and you get groped. Lovely.'

Erskine suddenly grinned, letting out a chortle. 'Val, you're a hoot!'

'Excuse me?'

'A hoot! A right good laugh! You're a funny girl, Valkyrie!'

She sighed. 'Thank god _someone _realises it. Now go away, Erskine.'

The grinning man then pouted, looking first at Valkyrie, then at the rest of them. 'Don't you want me here?'

'Of course we do,' Ghastly said, patting his friend on the shoulder. 'But you know someone who wants you more? Anton. See him, over there, dancing with that pretty girl? He wants you to come over and whisk him away.'

Erskine puffed his chest out. 'Don't blame him, to be honest.' He started to march over to where Anton was dancing, then his step faltered, and he turned back. 'Can I have that-'

'No.'

'Right.' He turned away and approached the dancing couple.

Valkyrie tutted. 'Poor Anton.'

'Indeed.' Skulduggery sounded amused.

Blade shook his head, chuckling. 'I can't believe the Grand Mage is drunk. And flirting with one of his best friends.'

'He's been working hard, let him have his fun.' Ghastly waved his hand. 'Tanith, may I have this dance?'

She smiled. 'I thought you'd never ask.' The two left, and then it was just Valkyrie, Skulduggery and Blade.

Skulduggery's skull swivelled toward Blade, his eye sockets burning holes into the poor boy's head. He stayed like this for a good minute before Valkyrie finally sighed and said, 'The death stare isn't as effective when you have no face, Skulduggery.'

Skulduggery looked at her, then nodded and reached into his crisp, white shirt to tap the two tattoos on his collarbone. Waxy skin flowed over the skull, dark hair sprouting from the scalp and lips forming over the teeth. A pair of grey eyes now glared out of those sockets, and his expression was deathly. Blade actually took a step back.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

****HL** **

By nine o'clock, the dance floor was absolutely filled with waltzing couples, smiling or frowning or looking like they wished they were somewhere else. Ghastly and Tanith were among the couples smiling at each other, as if they were the only two people in the world. Twirling around next to them were Valkyrie and Skulduggery, with Valkyrie's feet on Skulduggery's as he led her in an elegant dance. Blade and Hazel were also dancing, the two of them laughing with each other about something.

Willow sighed before finally tearing her gaze away from them. And here she was, alone. Hades and Maddox had gone off somewhere- she didn't know where. Hades was probably chatting some cute girl up, and wanted Maddox as his back-up. She sighed again.

'_Willow_! What are you doing all alone, on a night like this, with a dress like that?' said a slightly-slurred voice from behind her. She frowned and turned to face Erskine. He was grinning a wide, almost childish-looking grin.

She looked at him for a long while before shaking her head and turning away.

'Wanna dance with me?' he asked, moving forward to stand next to her.

'No,' she replied flatly, keeping her eyes ahead. How _dare_ he _flirt_ with her after rejecting her not two weeks earlier?

'Why not?' he pressed. His voice was still slurred, and while he had a frown on his face, his eyes sparked with playfulness.

Willow could recognise a drunk man when she saw one.

'Leave me alone,' she said, her voice quiet now.

'Are you angry because of what I said to you?' Erskine asked, touching her arm. She jerked it away.

'Erskine, please. Leave me alone.'

His frown was real now. 'Sorry I was mean,' he said.

She looked at him, and the part of her which hated seeing anyone at all unhappy couldn't help saying, 'You weren't mean.'

He grinned widely. 'Go on, then. Dance with me.'

She hesitated, looking at his face- at the man who had been sensible and kind but who had also turned her down and made her feel like a complete idiot. _A teenage girl lusting after a man who's centuries older than her- how ridiculous! _But the grin he wore was flattering to his handsome face. His eyes sparkled, whether it be due to happiness or the influence of drink. Willow found it hard to say no to Erskine. So she sighed heavily and said, 'Sure, why not?' She let him lead her over to the dance floor, and soon enough she was having fun. With Erskine Ravel. The man she had had a crush on since she arrived here. She smiled and laughed and joked with him as he spun her around the dance floor, having not a care in the world that this was a strange thing to be doing.

But she certainly didn't miss the expression on Hades face as he stood at the edge of the dance floor with Maddox, watching her dance and be foolish with- well, with the man of her dreams.

Disappointment.

****HL** **

About an hour and a half into the ball, Valkyrie's head started to hurt. She clutched at it, frowning. Damn headaches. They were as frequent these days as they were annoying.

'Excuse me,' she mumbled to her company- a fat, balding man who had captured her in a dance as soon as he recognised her as the great Valkyrie Cain. She ignored his affronted expression as she cut off his sentence by walking quickly away from him and over to Blade. 'My head hurts,' she said quietly to him when she reached him.

He frowned, green eyes narrowing in concern. 'Badly?' he asked.

'Do you really think _I _would be complaining if it was just a minor headache?'

'Right. Of course. Okay, then. So, er- is this an excuse to leave, or would you rather-'

'I think leaving would be a good idea,' she said, perhaps a little too quickly. As _lovely_ as it was to dance and meet new people, right now she really wanted to go back to her room and lie down, letting sleep consume her and drown out the pain in her head, which was increasing by the second. She let a soft grunt pass her lips, her hand once again flying up to her temple.

'Got it,' Blade said. 'Why don't you just head on up to your room, and I'll go tell the others that you're leaving?'

Valkyrie nodded, and started towards the doors to the Hall. Her head was throbbing. Her hand started shaking. She was worried- she hadn't been _sick _in a while. At least, not of natural causes.

_We should make the pain go away, _that soft voice in her head murmured.

No.

_Let me out, _it continued, _and I can banish it. _

With each word spoken by that unshakeable part of her subconscious, the pain grew and grew until it became unbearable. Valkyrie was lucky she was standing by a table- if she didn't have it to grab onto, she'd have fallen straight to the floor. People were looking at her now, some watching her display with concern, some looking on in disdain. A woman's voice drifted over to her, _'… always the younger ones who drink the most...' _and, if she was feeling up to it, Valkyrie would have shot the woman a nasty glare.

She moaned softly, and the voice said again, _Let me out. _

No.

_Let me out. _

No.

_LET ME OUT. _

The voice was booming now, sending genuine reverberations around Valkyrie's skull, and she finally gave in. The pain stopped immediately, and relief swept through her body.

Darquesse released her grip on the table and straightened, looking around at the watching sorcerers with a cool look on her face. 'Well?' she said. She didn't need to speak loudly. She allowed her power to reflect in her voice, and it made the people around her quickly look away. She smiled.

There were no arguments as she turned around and started heading towards China Sorrows. The woman who was surrounded by groups of adoring men, doting on her, loving her. The woman who had done something forgiveable, long ago. The woman who had broken a certain skeleton in two when she led his family to their deaths.

The woman who deserved everything that was coming to her.

Darquesse snapped her fingers, and fire sparked in her palm. She held it close to her body, hiding the flames in her cupped hand, enjoying the feel of the magic flowing through her. Summoning a flame was barely anything. It used barely a fraction of her power, the lovely power that was coursing through her veins and glinting behind her eyes. The smile on her face grew wider, and Darquesse enjoyed the sensation for just a short while more before she reached China. As she did, the men started to disappear- they were smart men, then. They didn't have to be staring danger in the face to recognise it.

The stunningly beautiful woman looked surprised and pleased to see her. Mistake number one. 'Valkyrie,' she said, that lovely voice of hers sounding warm. 'How wonderful to see you again. You look fabulous.'

Darquesse didn't reply. She opened her palm, allowed China to see the flame which flickered above it. Something flickered across China's face, something akin to concern.

'Valkyrie?'

'You're looking beautiful as ever, China,' Darquesse said, her voice so quiet that she was surprised China could hear it. Her eyes dropped to the flame in her own palm. 'It would be such a shame to burn that beauty away...'

'Skulduggery told you what happened, didn't he?' China let loose a sigh. She didn't seem to think Darquesse would notice as she subtly edged away. 'Valkyrie, my dear, please understand that-'

'You're going to die, China.'

'I don't want to make an enemy of you, Valkyrie. You know what happens to my enemies.'

They were gaining attention now. People had gathered around them, watching the scene in a mixture of interest and concern. Darquesse almost chuckled; _someone must surely be contemplating kicking me out, the amount of attention I've been gathering tonight. _She didn't reply to the symbol expert's thinly veiled threat and looked around at the crowd around them. She used the air to put a shield of air around herself and China, effectively blocking anyone from reaching them. There. A new talent, and a pretty damn useful one, too.

'I understand your anger,' China continued, snapping Darquesse's attention back to her, 'but-'

She stopped talking to dodge the ball of fire thrown at her by Darquesse. 'Please,' Darquesse said. 'Stop _talking_.' She clicked her fingers, and this time, she didn't merely summon a tiny fireball; her entire body erupted into flames. It was a fun trick, one that she had already used twice. She felt the heat surrounding her, but her skin, hair and dress remained intact. She heard gasps around her, and maybe even a few screams; she wasn't really paying attention. There was certainly shouting. More people approached, all eyes on Darquesse now. She could sense the horror of her friends as they realised what was going on, could taste the desperation and shock in the air. It was delicious. China had leapt back when the flames engulfed Darquesse, her flawless face deathly pale and her pale blue eyes wide to a comical level.

'_Valkyrie_!' The other voices hadn't been enough, but Skulduggery's was the one to distract Darquesse from her kill. She turned towards where he stood, just outside the shield of air, and switched off the flames which had licked her skin, easy as switching off a light. She faced her good old skeletal friend, grinning.

'Skulduggery,' she greeted, head cocked. 'Or... would you rather I greet you by your _other _name?'

'Stop it. Stop it right now. Let Valkyrie out.'

'Why would I want to do that?' Darquesse shook her head. 'You know, I prefer to see you fighting, rather than talking. You make more sense.'

'Let Valkyrie out _now_.'

Darquesse ignored his request, and smiled again. 'Fight me,' she challenged.

'How can I fight you when you're hiding behind your powers?' he asked, pushing a bony hand against the air shield. 'Of all things I expected you to be, cowardly was not one of them.'

Darquesse laughed. 'Oh, it _is _amusing to see you try to disarm me with insults.' She waved her hand, and the air shield retracted just enough for her to pull Skulduggery through and then spring it back up again. It would hardly do for some idiot to come interrupting them. 'Come on, Vile,' she said tauntingly. 'Put that armour on and see if you can stop me then.'

He didn't reply- didn't even move. Darquesse was aware of the people watching them, aware of how this must look to them, to their foolish, unknowing minds. The legendary Skulduggery Pleasant, in an argument with his young and newly-returned partner? How interesting. Her calling him Vile, and him making strange requests for her to _let Valkyrie out_? How odd. Them, standing off in their own private little bubble of air, looking ready to brawl? How entertaining. Her lip curled slightly; _people_. They were probably the only things she despised on this planet. They were the only things that could drive her into destroying such a beautiful world- if they didn't exist, even if that meant that the planet was just a barren wasteland... someday, she vowed in her head. Someday, that would happen.

Darquesse smiled at Skulduggery and flicked her hand out the skeleton was suddenly enshrouded in shadows, and then she pulled her hand back, and he came flying towards her like a bullet, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders before uprooting herself from the ground and shooting through the ceiling.

Oh, it was nice to be flying again.

She let go of Skulduggery and the shadows surrounding him immediately, confident that he would start flying for himself before he had a chance to go hurtling to the ground. She wasn't disappointed. As she let go, the shadows started to dissipate, and in Skulduggery Pleasant's place was Darquesse's favourite opponent, clad in that clever little armour of his.

'Let round two begin,' she said as Lord Vile flew towards her.

**A/N: I was going to add more, but I decided that it had been long enough without an update, so here we go. I'm not overly happy with this chapter; I was hoping to have something a little more, eh, _good_. This just didn't feel like it was up to standards, being one of the longest and- I think- most important chapters in the story.  
>But oh, well. It's done. I'm tired. It's Sunday. School tomorrow. I dislike school. I wish I had a reflection to send to school- although preferably not an evil one which *SPOILER ALERT* plots to kill me behind my back.<br>On the plus side, Derek Landy visited Liverpool last week, so my life was pretty much made when he signed my copy of KOTW and said 'Come hither, Heather'. Yays.  
>Well, I'll stop talking. I hope <em>you <em>weren't too disappointed by this chapter. Yes, round two is beginning. No, this isn't, like, the second to last chapter. 42 is my absolute minimum, I swear. Maybe 41. Actually, scrap that- I have no plan for this story. I will just keep writing it until I run out of Her Life juice.  
>Thank you to everyone who reviewed, subscribed (I'm using a new word ooooh) and favourited this story. Feel free to do so if you haven't already- or, hey, do it again, even if you already have.<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	39. Round Two

**Chapter 39. **

Darquesse spun upwards through the air, swiftly dodging the spears of shadows that Vile sent shooting her way. She retaliated with her own swirls of darkness, and she sent them to him so quickly that he had no time to dodge. The shadows wrapped around him, snaking over his arms, around his torso, binding him together in the air. He struggled for only a moment before going completely still- he must have known better than to try to move. Those shadows would slice right into his armour if he moved.

Darquesse's laughter rung out, almost getting lost in the strong wind blowing around them. 'I have you now, don't I?' she said teasingly, floating over to Vile and smiling right in his face. 'There's nothing, not a thing, to stop me from waving my hand and letting those shadows tear right into you. You'd be torn apart. Your conscience would dissipate, and there'd be nothing left of Lord Vile _or _Skulduggery Pleasant.' She paused and let a smirk stretch right across his face. She felt his eyes on her, behind that impressive armour of his. 'But what fun would that be?' she continued, and then the shadows withdrew, and then Vile was on her, pushing himself back down to earth with her right below him. Her self-preservation- something really quite new to her, she realised- kicked in, and she struggled to free herself from his strong grasp, kicking and hissing, but he didn't relent. One hand came slapping into her face, the thumbs trying to dig into her eye sockets- she grimaced. _Not again,_ she thought darkly, and slapped the hand away before grabbing it and bending the fingers back. She smiled as she heard a snapping sound that those with weak minds would find sickening.

And then they crashed to the ground, in the middle of a street Darquesse immediately recognised as O'Connell Street. They rolled a few times, still holding onto each other, before Darquesse leapt off her sparring partner and sent a wave of fire his way, only to have it blocked by his shadow-y shield. Another onslaught of shadows came her way, and she was sent flying backwards through the window of a café. She relished in the delightful gasps and screams around her as the mortals fled from the café. Darquesse got to her feet and then looked down at herself, at the shredded remains of her beautiful dress. Oh, well. She ran back towards Vile before any of the mortals in the café had a chance to recognise her- not that she particularly cared if anyone did.

She sent her shadows towards Vile, only to have her attack blocked once again. But she didn't mind, not really. Lord Vile was a challenge, and Darquesse enjoyed challenges.

'We should work as a team, you know,' she said conversationally as she side-stepped out of the way of his shadows. 'I think we'd be able to do wonderful things together. What do you say?' Another wave of shadows hit her, from behind this time, and she let out a a grunt as she fell forward. 'I'll take that as a _maybe later_, then.' She whipped her head up and, as she did so, a wave of air went slamming into Vile, sending him skidding back into a parked taxi. He hit it with such impact that the car crumpled, and Darquesse smelled the satisfying stench of burning metal.

Vile came running at her, and she let him. She fell back into the ground with more force than was natural, and she was quite sure that poor old O'Connell Street would have more than a few bumps and dents in it by the time this fight was done. Her legs kicked up to wrap around his waist as they both fell backwards, and she twisted them in mid-air so that she was on top of him. She straddled him, using her feet to pin his arms to the ground, and then clicked her fingers. She held the fireball dangerously close to Vile's face. 'Come on,' she purred, letting her hair fall in a dark curtain over them. 'Is that really all you've got?'

Apparently, it wasn't. He shoved her off him with incredibly force, and she would have gone flying through the air into another shop window if he didn't stop her with his Necromancy shadows. He sent them coiling towards her at an impossible speed, and she felt them cut into her flesh as they wrapped around her torso, lifting her into the air and then squeezing. She felt the air being squished out of her, accompanied by more than a fair bit of blood, and she didn't like the feeling. Darquesse frowned and squirmed, and she managed to twirl her fingers, and a flame shot out towards Vile. It wasn't the strongest hit she'd ever given, but it was enough to distract him from his shadow work. She took the opportunity to douse herself in flames once again, and she ran forward to wrap her arms around Vile, grinning widely at the sound of the fire trying to burn into the material of his armour. It couldn't be mere metal. It had to be something much, much stronger- something worthy of a sorcerer as powerful as Vile was.

'Would you like to join forces with me _now_?' she asked, her voice sweet and low and barely audible over the sound of the flames singing into what she presumed was a small piece of exposed bone beneath his armour.

He didn't answer; he never did. He was a remarkably silent man, that Vile. Darquesse decided that what he needed was a little push, something that would be enough to allow her to hear that marvellously velvety voice of his. She raised an eyebrow. Maybe her powers extended to more than just physical violence... there was no harm in trying it out.

_Speak to me, Vile, _she murmured in her mind, and something in her instinctively told her that he had heard. She had barely even tried; all it had taken, really, was there mere _desire _for her inner voice to reach Vile's mind.

Lord Vile remained silent.

_SPEAK TO ME, _she said again, making sure that her mental voice was as loud and as powerful as it could possibly be. She was sure that it echoed.

And then, Lord Vile finally spoke. 'No.' Not exactly the long-winded, heartfelt speech she had been looking forward to, but it would do. She smiled at him, and then pushed him backwards, extinguishing the flames around herself and laughing loudly as she watched him go flying into another shop window. Perhaps they should play a game- she liked the sound of a good old game of scaring mortals. Vile was back on the street before Darquesse could blink three times.

And then... neither of them moved. She stared at him, and she was positive that he was staring back at her. Not that she could be sure- with not even his empty eye sockets visible, she wasn't to know whether he was looking at her, or at something else, or if he was even looking at anything at all.

'You ruined my dress,' she said finally, good humour in her voice. 'And my hair. Although you haven't ruined my evening- if anything, you've improved it. That ball was awfully dull compared to this, don't you think?'

No reply. So he was back to being the strong and silent type, then. Darquesse sighed- perhaps it was no good even trying to goad a reaction out of him.

'_You're _awfully dull,' she said. 'Or have you finally decided to stop fighting and instead join forces with me?'

'No.'

'And he speaks!' she exclaimed, smirking.

'Give Valkyrie back,' he said.

Darquesse sighed. 'Oh, so we're back to this. Are you sure you don't want to join me? No? Fine, then- why don't we just carry on fighting?'

'Give Valkyrie back.' His voice was quiet and weak, and Darquesse wasn't sure that Vile was even still there.

'How many times do I have to tell you? I _am _Valkyrie. I'm not some separate entity, some alter-ego who pops out of her own free will. I am... _me_. I am Valkyrie. Don't you remember? I've told you this- I'm a bad mood.' She laughed.

'Give-'

'Is that all your going to say? I'm starting to regret asking you to speak.'

'Think about your friends.' Skulduggery's voice was stronger now. Darquesse noticed his hand sneaking up to remove his armour, article by article. His helmet dropped first. 'Your family. Your parents, and your little sister. Think about Tanith, and Ghastly, and _me_.'

'Are you trying to defeat me with some bizarre form of _therapy_?'

'Think about Blade, and Willow and Hazel and Maddox and Hades. Think about-'

Darquesse silenced him with a spear of shadow which knocked him to the ground. A pained grunt escaped him, and she smiled gleefully.

'You're not going to get me to retreat,' she informed him matter-of-factly. 'Not as easily as last time.'

'It's not the time for you to kill the world yet.'

Darquesse frowned. 'It's _been _my time. The end of the world is long overdue.'

'You don't really want to kill the world. Like you said, you're still Valkyrie. And the Valkyrie I know doesn't want any ounce of harm to come to this world.'

Darquesse let out an impatient sigh- would the skeleton ever sing a different tune? She was getting tired of his repetitiveness now. She didn't care how much he fascinated her, this talking skeleton with the fancy suit and the dark personality- it was time for him to die. 'The Valkyrie you know is gone,' she said, 'and you've bored me with your speeches for long enough.' She extended her arm towards him, letting the magic form at her fingertips, and prepared to silence the pesky skeleton forever, but just as she was about to send a million shadow-y daggers towards him, she stopped. A part of her wanted to kill him, but another part- a much bigger, much more important part- didn't. She frowned at her own indecision. It was like there was something physically stopping her from killing Skulduggery Pleasant- it was _herself_. Darquesse didn't want Skulduggery dead. Valkyrie didn't want him dead, and so Darquesse didn't, either. She hesitated, and then pulled her hand back to her side.

'You can't kill me,' Skulduggery said.

She gave him a dark glare. 'Of course I can,' she said. 'I just don't _want _to right now. If I killed you, who would I have to fight with?' She gave him a grin. 'Don't worry. You'll be seeing me again.' And with that, she clapped her hands, and the shadows enshrouded her and she was gone.

****HL** **

'Oh, god,' Tanith said loudly, for possibly the millionth time. 'Oh, god- oh, _god_.'

Erskine shot her a _calm _down look from his position at the front of the room. The unleashing of Darquesse- and a hell of a lot of coffee- had sobered him up considerably, and now he was stood on a table by the doors of the Great Hall, trying to calm the panicking room of sorcerers down and avoiding the frantic questions as much as he could.

All things considered, he was doing a pretty good job- although he hadn't managed to calm _that_ many people down. China was sat alone in a corner, having requested that she be left in her own peace, looking unnaturally pale. Beautiful, as always, but pale, like she had seen a ghost.

'Where do you think she'd have gone?' Maddox asked Ghastly, worry in his voice. They and the rest of the group were huddled together in a far corner of the room, avoiding the questions of the other sorcerers, trying to discuss things between themselves.

'And why did she take Skulduggery with her?' Willow chipped in. She had been chewing on her lip since Darquesse burst through the roof, and had twice had to lick away traces of blood.

'She'll kill him,' Tanith moaned, letting her head fall into her hands. 'She'll completely annihilate him!'

'We found her last time,' Hades said uncertainly. 'And she didn't hurt Skulduggery then. We can find her again, right?'

'Yeah, Skulduggery can fend for himself,' Ghastly agreed, arm wrapped around Tanith's shoulders comfortingly.

'We need to stop her before she starts killing again,' Blade said.

Hazel rolled her eyes. 'Like _that _isn't obvious.'

'What if she's already... done things?' Willow asked. She looked close to tears about the whole thing.

'She'll pro-' Hades started, but he was cut off by a loud screech from the crowd of sorcerers whom Erskine was trying to calm down. They all looked towards the sound, frowning. A woman lay on the floor, blood streaming from her nose and eyes, hands clutching tightly at her ears. The scream came from her; the crowd around her had parted, the sorcerers looking uncertain and worried.

'Larrika, stop!' shouted a man from the crowd, dropping to a crouch behind the screaming woman, looking frantic as he shook her shoulders, making her head bang against the ground. Tanith frowned; probably not the best thing to be doing to a woman who looked to be having some kind of fit, but okay. He seemed to know her. Tanith herself didn't recognise the woman at all.

The woman- Larrika, as the man had called her- screamed again. It was a terrible scream, blood-curdling and horrifying. She looked and sounded like she was in agony, and Tanith found herself wondering why only one person in the room was doing something about it.

'Larrika,' the man said, sounding almost like he was begging. 'Stop. You're hurting yourself; it's not worth it, stop!'

'_I need to know_!' the woman howled. '_I'm so close to finding out who she really is..._'

Tanith cast a worried glance at Ghastly, who shook his head. She scowled at him; _someone _should interfere. Not her, of course- Tanith was never any good in situations like this- but someone who could actually make the woman stop screaming, stop doing whatever the hell she was doing to herself. It couldn't be good, if it was affecting her like this.

And yet, no one moved. People had gone from looking worried to looking wary; from scared to understanding. Was Tanith the only one in the room who didn't know who, or _what_, this woman was? A quick glance at Valkyrie's American friends told her that no, she wasn't the only one.

'Why is no one helping?' Hazel asked quietly.

Ghastly quieted her, saying, 'This isn't something that people should be interfering with.'

'Then why is that guy interfering?' Blade asked, keeping his voice as hushed as Ghastly's. The room was silent, apart from the horrid screams coming from Larrika and the desperate pleas coming from the man who was still crouching beside her.

Ghastly sighed. 'That's Larrika Wise. She's a seer,' he explained, not taking his eyes off the scene for even a moment. 'She's must be having a vision; and she's obviously pushing herself past her limits. That's a dangerous thing to do- it's hurting her, and it might kill her.'

Tanith stared at Ghastly, then turned her wide-eyed gaze to the woman. 'And people shouldn't stop her _because_...?'

'It's dangerous,' Ghastly said with a grimace. 'The outcome could end up much worse.'

'_I see her_!' Larrika screeched suddenly. 'I- I _see _her!'

'See who?' the man asked, looking close to tears. 'Who can you see, Larrika?'

'_Darquesse_!'

Tanith froze mid-breath. Darquesse? That's who Larrika had been looking for?

Oh, hell.

Suddenly, the whole room was interested in what Larrika had to say. Tanith and the rest of the group all exchanged a look of horror; if Larrika could see Darquesse, then that meant...

Larrika, on the other side of the room, had turned deathly pale. Her screaming had stopped, the blood had stopped flowing, and she seemed to be in a state of shock.

'And what did you see?' a sorcerer in the crowd prompted, looking impatient. 'About Darquesse?'

'What did she look like?' someone else asked.

'How powerful was she?'

'Did you find out how we can stop her?'

'What happened in your vision, Larrika?'

'Who was she?'

'Enough,' the man who had been crouching next to Larrika snapped, now on his feet and whirling to face the crowd. He snarled at them all. 'Can't you see that the poor woman is traumatised? Give her some space, for god's sake!'

Erskine, at the front of the room, cleared his throat loudly. 'Perhaps if we would all like to calm down and give Miss Wise some space...'

'Not until we get answers!' someone shouted. 'We need to know all we can about Darquesse, and-'

Arguing then broke out amongst them all. Many were in favour of getting all the information out of Larrika now, and a few didn't want her to explain the vision at all.

Tanith, meanwhile, was panicking- and the people around her weren't doing much better. Valkyrie's American friends looked rather shaken. Ghastly was pacing, running his hands over his head, muttering things. Fletcher looked very pale and very worried. 'We can't let them find out about Valkyrie,' he hissed.

'_Enough_!' The shout seemed to echo around the room. All attention turned to Erskine, whose face was slightly pink; probably from shouting so loudly. 'Step away from Miss Wise now.' When no one moved, his face darkened. 'That's an order from your Grand Mage,' he said, sounding threatening. 'Move.'

Wisely, the people did as they were told. Everyone who was crowded around Larrika's body stepped back.

'Elder Mist, Elder Bespoke, take Miss Wise and her friend to my office. We can get the information then.'

At this, several people voiced their complaints, but were silenced by a deadly glare from Erskine. Ghastly and Tanith exchanged a look, before the former shrugged and started walking towards Larrika's body. Mist was already there, dressed as conservatively as ever, her dark veil obscuring her face from view. Silently, they picked her up and carried her out, followed by the solemn-looking man who seemed so concerned for the seer.

****HL** **

Darquesse looked down at the fourteen year-old boy who lay dead at her feet, with the ridiculously curly hair and the baggy band t-shirt. She couldn't describe his face, as it had been the first thing she had ripped off, and she hadn't bothered to appraise his appearance before the killing began. The only thing that remained of him was his head- minus some skin and facial features- and his torso.

She sighed. He was the fourteenth person she had killed in the hour since she had left Skulduggery, and she was getting bored. Why were the mortals so weak? Why couldn't they provide her with some sort of _challenge _to keep her entertained? Why would they make it so damn _easy _for her?

She gave the boy's corpse a firm kick, and he went flying through the air, far away from her. The public park was now empty, unless one counted the multiple corpses scattered across the lush green grass.

For a moment, she considered going back to the Sanctuary and making a meal out of all the guests who had been at the Requiem Ball, but then she decided against it, realising that Skulduggery would most likely have returned there, and if she fought Lord Vile with the added distraction of multiple sorcerers aiming petty attacks at her, she would most likely lose. Or, at least, have to run away. And, though it had never happened to her before, Darquesse hated losing.

She frowned, and then sighed again, dropping to a sitting position on the grass, with her legs stretched out and her fingers running through the dewy grass. The park was pretty at night. Everything was a few shades darker, and the moon cast a pretty reflection against the puddles on the ground.

She decided that she would not clear the bodies up; leave that to the mortals. Cleaning things was another thing that Darquesse hated. When her mother forced her to clean her room at home, she used to always make the reflection do it. In her shared apartment back in California, Willow and Hazel were constantly nagging at her to clean up after herself.

A small smile had made its way onto her face at the thought of her friends; oh, how simple things used to be. When cleaning things up had been her biggest problem in the world, because she had never considered her job dangerous. Well, yes, she had; but she had never considered it _life-threatening_. To her, the whole thing was routine. Put on the black clothes, then get into the Bentley, stop somewhere, kick ass, nearly die, _don't _die, then head back home to eat dinner with her parents.

When had things changed? Darquesse thought about this. When her true destiny was revealed, she supposed. _That's _when things _started_ to shift in the routine. When she left for America; things really shook up then. When she returned to Ireland, and suddenly her old life came hurtling back at her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Darquesse felt a sudden slip; a momentary vision of pure blackness. The smile dropped from her face, and her eyes narrowed. She'd nearly slipped back into the corner of her own mind. Completely accidentally. Without any forewarning.

So... was that it? In order for the good side of her to take control, all she had to do was slip up _one time _and start thinking about... what? About life? Friends, family? Cleaning her room? Normalcy?

Darquesse inhaled sharply, instantly straightening her back and digging her fingers into the moist ground. 'Well, then,' she said softly to herself, through gritted teeth. 'I suppose I'll just have to stop thinking about that.' She swiftly got to her feet, not bothering to brush the mud off of her ruined dress.

It wasn't like she cared about any of that nostalgic stuff anyway; she truly didn't. That was just the good part of her, fighting to take over. But she wouldn't let it; Valkyrie wasn't going to reign in Darquesse. Not just yet. Her mouth straightened into a hard line, and she felt the determined fire sparking behind her eyes.

There was still work to be done.

**A/N: I was going to do a lot more than this, but I figured I owed you an update by now.  
>Gosh, it feels like I'm apologizing for being late in every chapter. But yeah, I'm sorry for the tardiness in updating. There's still a little bit of leftover writer's block in my mind.<br>But, on the bright side, writing is slowly taking over my life again. Until it's completely in control, though, you have to put up with barely-decent chapters and slow updates. Sowwy! ;)  
>If you want, you can also check out the poll I've put up on my profile to decide what story you want to see me write next- after I've finished all my current ones, of course. There should be plenty of variety there. Take your pick.<br>Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and subscribed and favourited. It means so much when you guys do that, so please continue to make my day with your loving ways.  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<br>PS, This month, I found out why everyone is obsessed with Tumblr. Let's just say that that may have had something to do with why these last two updates have been so slow. **


	40. Darque Visions

**Chapter 40. **

'It was her, I'm telling you!' Larrika Wise had been safely escorted, along with her companion, to Erskine's office almost half an hour ago. There had been nearly fifteen minutes of nothingness from her, and then she seemed to come alive, and now she was hysterical. 'That girl- that Va-'

Ghastly quickly interrupted Larrika by clearing his throat loudly. He then looked at Larrika, forcing a patient and gentle look onto his face. 'Miss. Wise,' he said, smiling the sweetest smile he could muster, under the circumstances. 'You've been saying _it was her_ for the past fifteen minutes now. Maybe you want to start from the beginning, so that we know what you're actually _talking _about.'

Larrika's male friend- whose name, they had discovered, was Penum Steel- frowned. 'But she was just about to-'

'Let her tell us, Mr. Steel,' Ghastly said, and Erskine threw him a discreet smirk.

Larrika looked at Ghastly, then at Erskine, then at Mist, eyes huge and thin lips parted, before the swallowed thickly and fixed her eyes on the floor. 'I've been searching for Darquesse,' she started, sounding suddenly frail, and not at all like the wild, ranting woman they had been seeing for the past fifteen minutes. 'For quite some time, now, too. I heard about her five years ago, through a dear friend of mine. I was told how she was going to kill the world and there would be no way of stopping her, and that no one even knew who Darquesse was or what she even looked like, and ever since then... well, I suppose you could say I've been obsessed.' She let out a half-hearted chuckle. 'I thought that, if I stretched my powers far enough, I could see it like no seer ever has before- I would be able to identify Darquesse, and therefore, I would be able to stop her.'

Erskine frowned. 'But... you couldn't do that. Our two most powerful seers couldn't-'

'Then they are not your most powerful,' Larrika snapped, obviously annoyed at the interruption. She no longer sounded frail. After a beat, she continued, 'I tried so hard to expand the visions, but the most I was ever able to see was a silhouetted figure walking through a litter of corpses. And, by that time, almost every seer in the country was able to see _that_.

I wouldn't give up, though. I went so far as to turn to the _internet _for help.' She shook her head, lip curling. 'Can you believe that? A sorcerer of my power, going to those fraudster voodoo websites to buy plastic chicken feet and incense that smells like the blood of a dragon. Needless to say, it didn't work. Nothing did. It... it was so _frustrating_. But then, two years ago...' Her eyes flickered up to look at Penum Steel, and a smile spread across her face. 'I found _him_. He taught me how to expand my range of visions. Within months, I could make out Darquesse's hair colour, and after a year, I was able to see the clothes she was wearing. Her face was still blocked from my sight, though. I became more and more dedicated to training with Penum as the days went on, and not long ago, I was close to a breakthrough- the shadows were starting to lift away from Darquesse's face. I still couldn't see her, but it was like I was looking at her through frosted glass, instead of through a wooden door.' A small smile flickered on Larrika's face, but it dropped almost immediately, replaced by a look of loathing. 'But then we heard about another seer who had actually done it- he'd seen Darquesse's face in the vision, and he had managed to identify her.'

Erskine and Ghastly exchanged a concerned look.

'He wouldn't tell anyone who it was, though.' Larrika scowled. 'And that was _really _annoying, you know? Not only did he achieve the one thing I'd been hoping to do for the past five years of my life, but he also had the nerve to _keep it to himself_. Like this _wouldn't _be helpful information to share? If you find out the identity of the person who's going to kill the world, why on _earth _wouldn't you-'

'If we could get back to the point,' Mist interrupted, and Ghastly raised his eyebrows in her direction. It wasn't like the usually-silent Child of the Spiders to speak up in an affair like this.

'Right.' Larrika nodded. 'As I was saying- he found out Darquesse's identity, and he refused to tell anyone else. He said that it was his information to keep, and he insisted that this meant he was the only one who could stop her. Maybe he'd had the same goal as me- to become powerful enough to see Darquesse clearly, and to become knowledgeable enough to be able to stop her. So he went out one night, totally alone and without telling anyone what he was doing, and tracked her down. He tracked down _Darquesse_. I mean, that must take some skill, right? The man was an arrogant fool, but I'll be the first to admit that he was good at what he did. Although I'm not quite sure what it is that he actually _did _do. He died that night, when he was trying to kill Darquesse. He tried to shoot her, but he was the one who ended up dying.

After that, I became... dis-heartened. Who wouldn't? I wondered if my fate would have been the same if I had been the first one to find out who Darquesse really was. Probably. I stopped trying to have the visions for two or three weeks, but then, tonight... I just saw it as the perfect opportunity. Penum here tried to talk me out of it, of course- such a sweetheart.' She smiled fondly up at him. 'But I wouldn't listen. My plan was to put all those years of training into one incredibly powerful, ridiculously painful vision right in the middle of the ball. There was no way I wouldn't be able to see Darquesse then, right? With all that magic in the air... it was bound to help. Anyway, my plan didn't quite go as it was meant to-' She paused suddenly, and smiled. 'Although that's not exactly a bad thing...'

Erskine's face was stony as he looked at her. 'So that was the vision you just had, right then. You saw her, did you? Darquesse?'

'Oh, I did,' Larrika said slowly. She smiled. 'It was very interesting.'

Penuma looked at Larrika now, urgency in his face. 'What did you see?' he asked her quietly. 'Who was it?'

Erskine and Ghastly exchanged yet another look of worry. Mist didn't know about Valkyrie's true name, not yet- and neither of them had any plans for the veiled woman to find out any time soon. Larrika opened her mouth, and her lips were just forming the letter _V _when the door flew open, and Skulduggery Pleasant stormed in.

****HL** **

'We have a problem.' Skulduggery wasted no time with small-talk, or with trying to find out why the hell there were two unfamiliar people in Erskine's office.

'What is it?' Erskine asked quickly, staring at his friend as he took in the skeleton's appearance- torn up suit, ragged appearance... there'd been a fight. But, again, he hadn't been completely _destroyed _by Darquesse. How in God's name did he keep getting away from her?

'She got away,' Skulduggery said. He didn't say her name, didn't say anything more than those three words, but three out of the six people in that room understood immediately. Unfortunately, one of those people happened to be Larrika, whose face took on this strange expression that was somewhere between lighting up and darkening. She looked at Skulduggery. 'She didn't kill you,' she observed, but the skeleton paid no attention to her.

'How did you get away from her?' Ghastly demanded.

'What, _Valkyrie_?' Mist sounded incredulous. To insert this much emotion into her voice was uncharacteristic for her, but hey, this probably all sounded ridiculous to her. She had every right to sound incredulous. 'I'm not sure what's going on, Grand Mage, but-'

'Elder Mist, if you would kindly do us the favour of _shutting up _for a second,' Erskine said impatiently. He gave her no time to respond verbally before looking expectantly back at Skulduggery, who said nothing.

Ghastly, after a few long moments of silence, sighed. 'Fine, fine. Where did she go?'

Skulduggery hesitated. 'I'm not sure,' he said. 'She beat me up, tore up a public street and then disappeared.'

'Literally?' Erskine asked with a frown.

'For all I know, she could be on the moon right now.'

'Well,' Larrika snorted. 'I highly doubt that even _Darquesse _could survive on the-'

'Are we talking about Darquesse now? Or are we still talking about Valkyrie?' Mist asked, sounding exasperated. 'Grand Mage Ravel, as an Elder, I _demand _to know what it is you're all keeping from me. I have the authority to know whatever it is.'

Erskine sighed, and looked like he was stopping himself from rolling his eyes. 'Elder Mist, what did I tell you about shutting up?'

'You have no right to tell me to be quiet-'

'Actually, I do,' Erskine said. 'I'm the Grand Mage. I'm the one in charge here, and , right now, I'm the one whose orders you have to follow. We'd be happy to tell you everything that's going on, except we're slightly busy right now with stopping it all from happening. Perhaps, once this is over, we'll explain it all to you over a romantic candlelit dinner and some wine, but right now, you really do need to _shut up _and _do as I tell you. _Do you understand me?'

He and Mist proceeded to stare at each other until Mist finally relented and said, 'Of course, _Grand Mage_. I apologize.'

Erskine nodded, a triumphant spark in his eyes, and then turned back to Skulduggery. 'Tell me everything that happened,' he ordered.

Again, Skulduggery hesitated. 'I'm rather vague on the details.'

Erskine frowned. 'You're never vague on the details.'

'She hit me rather hard in the head. She may have damaged something.'

'You literally have nothing to damage except your skull, and that looks fine to me, Skulduggery.'

'Are you suggesting that I have no brain?'

'You _don't _have a brain.'

'And yet I still manage to be smarter than everyone in this room put together.'

Ghastly hid his chuckle with a cough, and Larrika glared harshly at him before glaring just as harshly at the other two. 'This is a serious matter,' she said chidingly. 'It's not the time to be joking around.'

'Ah,' Skulduggery said. 'You're new here, aren't you?'

Larrika scowled at him.

'Seriously, though, back to the matter at hand,' Ghastly said. 'Skulduggery, why can't you tell us what happened?'

'I was quite serious when I said that Darquesse hit me rather hard in the head.'

'Skulduggery.'

'She also threw me through a window and smashed me into the pavement, after taking me on a semi-enjoyable flight with terrible service and then using me as her own personal landing cushion.'

'And still, you continue to be frustratingly sarcastic.' Ghastly rolled his eyes.

'I prefer to think of myself as charmingly witty, but I suppose the lesser minds aren't capable of such thoughts.'

'I'm starting to think that you drove Darquesse away with your biting sarcasm.'

'My theory is that she secretly adores my intellect and would hate to kill such a perfect specimen of life.'

'How ironic that you're dead.'

'Enough,' Mist snapped. 'Wise is right. This is not the time for your childish banter.'

'My dear spider-child,' Skulduggery said, looking at her. 'It is _always _the time for childish banter. Now, if someone would like to tell me what was going on in here before I so rudely interrupted, it would be much appreciated.'

'But-' Erskine's brows furrowed. 'But- Darquesse...'

'Will be no harder to find in five minutes than she is now, I assure you,' Skulduggery said, pulling out a chair near the door and relaxing into it, tipping the remains of his hat over his eyes. 'Do carry on.'

Ghastly stared at him, and then said in a rather pointed voice, 'Miss. Wise here managed to identify Darquesse in a vision just after you and Valkyrie left. She was just telling us who it was she saw...'

'Oh- _oh_.' Skulduggery abruptly stood up. 'Well, then. That's nowhere near as entertaining as I would have imagined it to be. I'd much rather go after Darquesse.'

'But to do that, we pretty much _need _to hear this,' Penum said, speaking up for the first time since Skulduggery's arrival. 'It's important.'

Skulduggery paused. 'Who are you, again?'

'My name is-'

'Don't bother, I can already tell you're not important- but you're still more important than the revelation of Darquesse's real identity.'

'That, uh...' Penum frowned. 'What?'

'Excellent!' It was likely that, if Skulduggery had a face, he would be beaming. 'That clears that up.' He tilted his hat back to its normal angle and cocked his head to the side. 'Does anyone have any ideas on where Darquesse might be?'

****HL****

The little house near Haggard's pier was quiet. None of the inside lights were switched on, but Darquesse could clearly see the flickering glow of the television screen in the living room. She smiled. That would be her parents- their favourite TV show was always on at around this time on a Thursday night. Alice, presumably, would be tucked safely into bed, dreaming about sheep and unicorns, and whatever other drivel young children usually dreamed about.

The only sound she could hear around her was the sound of the salty waves crashing against the pier, driven by the sudden strong winds and strengthened by her own interference. But it did no good; as wonderful as the sound of tides used to be at calming Darquesse down, all they did now was aggravate her. She stopped wasting her magic on fuelling her own annoyance and instead focused it so that she could shadow-walk into the house without being noticed. The shadows took her farther than they would take any normal Necromancer- while she would normally have been stopped before she reached the front door, this time she was easily carried through the door, up the stairs and into her old bedroom, where her reflection was sat on the bed staring at her phone.

Darquesse grinned; the useless thing didn't even notice her, so intent was she in staring at the device in her hand. 'Expecting a call from someone?' she asked, and was barely surprised at all to see the reflection jump. It had always been advanced, far more emotional than an unsentimental object should ever be.

'You,' it said, brows furrowing. The phone fell from her hand onto the bed. 'How... what are you doing here?'

Darquesse shrugged, glancing around the room. Just the way it had been last time she was here, except there had been an obvious clean-up attempt, with fewer articles of used clothing littering the still-cluttered floor. 'Can't I pay a visit to my own family any more?' she asked innocently, and was pleased to see the twitch of anger in the reflection's face. It really was fascinating to toy with it; it cared about Darquesse's family just as much as- or maybe even more than- Darquesse herself did. No matter.

'Go away,' the reflection said. 'You had your chance at a life here, and you chose to go away. Not it's my turn.'

'You weren't supposed to age after I left, you know,' Darquesse mused. 'Once you're out of the mirror, you're supposed to stay exactly as you are. You, however... you aged with me. Is it because you're so advanced? You never were a completely normal thing, were you? There was always some oddity or another, with your emotions and whatnot.'

The reflection's fist clenched. 'I am not a _thing_,' it said through gritted teeth, and Darquesse laughed.

'Was it you, stalking me and my friends when we were shopping the other day?' she asked conversationally. 'I didn't think much of it at first, but... you just can't let it go that I'm back, can you?'

'You're not supposed to be here. _I'm _Stephanie Edgely now.'

Darquesse laughed even harder. 'And you're a real girl,' she said, amused. 'But try not to tell too many lies- you might end up ruining the pretty little nose you stole from me.'

'Get out of my house.'

Darquesse's laughter ceased, and a threatening wave of shadows fanned out behind her head. '_Your _house?' she repeated darkly. 'What is it, my dear, soulless _thing_, that makes you think you have the _right _to steal away what was- and still is- _mine_? You wouldn't even _be here_ if it weren't for me- if I hadn't created you when I was twelve years-old, where would you be? You wouldn't even _exist_. Or maybe you would- I'm not entirely sure what happens with the whole reflection thing. But I do know that, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be sat here in my room today, thinking about how much you love _my _family, and _my _home, and _my _life. So why don't _you _get out of _my _house, you-'

And then several things happened at once. The reflection started screeching- not quite loud enough to overpower the sound of the TV downstairs, but still fairly loud. The phone on the bed started chirping and vibrating, and it apparently was refusing to stop until it was answered. It would have to wait a long time. The shadows surrounding Darquesse suddenly whipped around, darting around the edges of the room at her command as an immediate reaction to the reflection merely opening its mouth. And from the doorway came a small, frightened whimper- the kind which could only come from either an injured animal or a small child. In this case, it was the latter; Alice stood in the doorway, dark eyes wide and fearful, her mouth opened with no sound coming out.

Darquesse immediately stopped her shadows from moving, and she stared at the child, who looked so much like herself, except Alice was the picture of innocence right now, in her pastel blue pyjamas with the monkeys printed on it and with Darquesse's old teddy bear clutched tightly to her chest. How heartbroken the other side of her would be if this child were to die now. How torn apart- metaphorically speaking- she would become. How terrible the whole thing would be...

But, on the other hand, the reflection would suffer, too. And the reflection had angered Darquesse tonight, as well as on many, many other occasions. Now that it could finally feel like a real person, perhaps it was time to let it feel _everything_. It had already experienced happiness, anger, surprise. Now it was time to let it feel pure _heartbreak_.

Darquesse smiled and extended her hand towards little Alice Edgely.

**A/N: Okay. Okay, okay, okay, it literally _broke my heart _to picture that scene in my head as I was writing it. I don't know how it was for readers, and I apologize if I just gave you the same mental picture as I gave myself, but... wow. Damn me. Also, I'm sorry if this is a bit weird or whatever as a chapter. I finished it after midnight, and I proof-read it after midnight, and my eyes literally had little pegs holding them open. Although _not _literally. That'd just be weird.  
>Anyway, I thought I'd be ever so kind and leave you on one of those cliffhangers that you all <em>love <em>so much. ;) Don't worry, though, I'll be fairly quick in updating, since even I'm desperate to know what will happen next.  
>Oh, but I'll give you one spoiler- Larrika Wise isn't going to be a permanent character. She's just a plot device, there for me to use and abuse. I'm sure she doesn't mind, though.<br>Thank you to everyone who subscribed and favourited and reviewed. It really makes my day when I receive emails from this site telling me that one of my stories has had attention paid to it, so please, make an author smile and leave her a review. Thank you muchly.  
>See you next update.<br>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	41. Heart Warming Optimism

**Chapter 41. **

_Get away from my little sister. _

The voice was followed by an explosion of pain in Darquesse's head. She hadn't felt this type of pain before- and what a fascinating experience it was to feel it for the first time- but she had certainly delivered it; just this very night, in fact, she'd used it on... _herself_. On Valkyrie. _Herself_.

The pain was strong, and it made Darquesse grimace. Her hand, which had previously been extended towards Alice, flew to her head in a vain and particularly stupid attempt to soothe it. She didn't know why the impulse to do such a thing had overcome her; it was a useless move, and it never helped in anything, despite what the mortals believed.

But Darquesse didn't step away from Alice Edgely; she couldn't, really. She couldn't step towards her, and she couldn't step away from her. So she merely stared at the pretty little girl wearing her cute pyjamas and clutching her cuddly toy. And she felt something inside her snap- like a cord, or a piece of thin string. It just _snapped_. And so Darquesse continued to stare, because she didn't _want _to do anything else, as the reflection ran towards Alice and ushered her back to her own bedroom.

The little girl gave Darquesse a shy smile and a nervous wave before following the reflection of her older sister.

The final cord inside her snapped, and Valkyrie closed her eyes.

She didn't re-open them as she took a shaky breath in. 'Oh, my god,' she breathed, voicing her thoughts allowed. Her voice trembled. 'I nearly killed my own little sister.' Eyes eyes flew open, and she felt herself flop down to the floor, head falling into her hands. 'I nearly _killed _my _little sister_.'

She allowed herself a second of deep breathing before she rose to her feet and composed herself. The reflection would be busied for around three minutes in explaining this to Alice. Valkyrie felt a pang at the thought; that was _her _job. _She _was Alice's older sister. The reflection shouldn't be the one comforting her and explaining things to her and loving her.

But, she supposed, she'd made the choice to give up her rights as an older sister long ago. There was no good in dwelling on what would only hurt her. Right now, it was best for her to just get the hell out before she had to face the reflection again.

So she did so, exiting through the window and feeling a bout of dé já vú, obviously from when she used to do this all the time, up until four years ago.

Her next goal was to get back to the Sanctuary. She let out a deep sigh. Oh, the questions she would face when she got back there. Would her friends lock her up in a cell again? Would she wake up tomorrow morning handcuffed to a wall?

Valkyrie sighed again. She had a hell of a lot of apologizing to do.

She was about to start on her usual route to the Sanctuary by foot, but then she stopped. It... it was only fair that she get a moment to collect herself- properly, this time- and be alone with her thoughts and the see. She nodded in agreement with herself, and took a detour to sit on the edge of the pier and stare down at the salty waves below her.

She'd lost control. Again. How many times was that since she returned to Ireland? She shook her head, bobbing her feet above the water. She needed to figure out a way to stop this. If she hadn't done something about it, hadn't forced herself to take a stand and recognise Alice as her flesh and blood, her little sister would be dead now. Her parents, too, probably; she was doubtful that Darquesse would stop there. After all, why stop at killing innocent children? May as well give their parents the chop, too. She'd probably see what she could do about topping the reflection, too, considering that she would no longer have any use for it.

When had things gotten so complicated? It was a question that she seemed to be asking herself a lot lately. She couldn't keep doing this- losing control of herself and letting Darquesse free, allowing the dark side of her to go on killing innocents until Valkyrie regained enough self-control to reign Darquesse in again. It needed to stop.

But... the only way to do that, that she could think of, was for her to die. And she wasn't ready to do that. It was selfish of her, she knew, but she didn't want to die just yet. She'd gone and started a new life, made new friends, found a wonderful guy and fallen in love for the first time. She couldn't give all that immediately after getting it, could she?

Maybe Nye had a way. He was a medical genius, wasn't he? Maybe he'd find it interesting to take away a part of Valkyrie's mind. Maybe it was _actually _possible. Maybe it could be done. Valkyrie perked up, just a tiny bit, at the thought. She made a mental note to ask about it. It was always a last resort, if nothing else could work, wasn't it? Worth a try.

After a few minutes of thinking, she realised that the longer she stayed absent, the more worried people might get. Worried about how many she was killing, how much destruction she was raining upon Dublin. She needed to get back.

She thought back for a moment on the people she _had _killed tonight. Fourteen at the park. Five on the streets. Fifteen in the pub. All strangers to her, but all important. She wondered how long it would be before their bodies were found, before their families were informed of the death of their dear, precious loved one. Guilt tugged at her heart, desperate to be felt, but she pushed it away. There was no time for guilt any more, and if she allowed herself to feel all the guilt she deserved to feel, she'd probably explode.

There'd almost been one more death, too. Alice. Her little sister. Her adorable, innocent baby sister, who'd waved to and smiled at the girl who had almost murdered her in cold blood- all to make a stab at the reflection.

That damned reflection.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered to the air, the sound almost inaudible to her own ears. She said it to no one in particular, but she was thinking of all the people she had killed that night, and to all the people to had lost a family member because of her, and to the little girl who would no longer exist if not for that small ounce of self-control that Valkyrie had managed to regain.

****HL** **

Willow bit her lip, worried. 'They've been in that office for a while now,' she said. 'Do you think everything's okay?'

'Probably.' Tanith nodded. 'I'm sure the all-powerful Grand Mage and his merry band of Elders can handle a psychic who's seen too much. If they can't, I'm worried about the future of the Irish Sanctuary.'

'And Valkyrie,' Blade said. 'What about Valkyrie? Don't you think we should-'

'What, go after her?' Tanith shook her head. 'Nope. She'd squash us like bugs. Literally.'

'Your optimism is heart-warming,' Hades said dryly.

Tanith fixed him with a steady look. 'There's not much to be optimistic about, given the circumstances.'

He hesitated, like he was about to say more, then nodded and looked away.

They were still in the Great Hall. The doors had been barred off and were being guarded by the ever-stern-looking Cleavers. No one was allowed to enter or leave until the whole issue was sorted out. Not, in Tanith's opinion, the best way of calming everyone down.

There was a silence among the group after that, a silence that no one seemed particularly eager to try to break. And then: 'Do you mind if I join you?'

Tanith whirled around to face the speaker, and she felt her face immediately twist into something sour when she did. 'China,' she said by way of greeting.

The beautiful woman nodded at her, then looked at the others. 'You're Valkyrie's new group of friends,' she said, raising an elegant eyebrow. 'I've heard so much about you.'

'Really?' Hades asked, the lovestruck expression on his face similar to the lovestruck expression on the faces of pretty much everyone who was currently looking at China. 'Y-you've heard about us?'

The smile that China gave him made Tanith roll her eyes. You'd think that being attacked by someone you thought was a friend would make a girl feel just a little shaken and off her game- but no. Not China Sorrows, clearly. Not the beautiful and sophisticated woman who didn't know the meaning of undignified because the word had never applied to her.

'Go away,' Tanith said shortly. 'You're not wanted here.'

China smiled a tiny, amused smile that dimpled her cheek just the slightest bit. 'It doesn't look like I'm not wanted here,' she pointed out, making a sweeping gesture to the adoring faces staring at her.

Tanith did roll her eyes now. 'You obviously didn't come here for the conversation,' she said. 'So what is it, China? What do you want?'

China lifted her shoulders in a dainty shrug.

'You want to know about Valkyrie, don't you?'

The smile turned rueful. 'You read me like an open book.'

'Which is weird, because I only read books that I like, and I don't like you.'

'I can't say that the feeling isn't mutual,' China said disdainfully. 'But we're getting off topic. You were right- I want to know what happened with Valkyrie tonight. I want to know why she attacked me and why she was suddenly so powerful, and- well, at risk of sounding awfully cliché, I want to know _now_.'

Tanith pursed her lips. 'It's a long story, and frankly, China, I can't be bothered telling you.'

'That is downright petty.'

'No, it's lazy. Learn the difference.'

'Would you be being so _lazy_ if Valkyrie or Skulduggery or Ghastly were the ones asking?'

Tanith hesitated.

'Exactly.' Tanith wanted nothing more than to punch the smug smile off of China's perfect face by now. 'By not telling me, you're just being petty. I always thought better of you than that.'

'I sincerely doubt that you did.'

'So do I.'

'I hate to interrupt what looks like it would make an interesting cat fight,' Maddox cut in, looking like he was the quickest to get over his attraction to China, 'but, uh, Erskine and Ghastly are back. And Skulduggery's with them.'

Tanith's head whipped towards the entrance to the Great Hall and, sure enough, the Grand Mage and his two Elders were walking in with Skulduggery, Larrika and Larrika's friend in tow. She'd been so caught up with China- along with, apparently, the rest of the group, if their awed expressions were anything to go by- that she hadn't even noticed what she'd been waiting to see for almost forty minutes now.

Ghastly immediately took his place by her side when they reached them, and Tanith couldn't hide her grin at this. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. 'Skulduggery,' she greeted. 'It's nice to see that you haven't been pulverised. Again. Care to share your secret to not getting killed by D-_her_?' She'd almost said Darquesse in front of China- and China couldn't know who they were talking about. Tanith didn't trust China. None of them did, apart from maybe Valkyrie, although the fact that the latter had tried to kill China earlier, Tanith wasn't sure exactly how valid Valkyrie's trust in the woman was any more.

Skulduggery merely shrugged. He seemed to be looking at China- although, judging by his stance, it was probably more of a glare. Back straight, shoulders tense, fists clenched.

'Where is she?' Blade asked, almost like he was pleading.

'We don't know,' Ravel admitted, and Blade's shoulders slumped. '_But_,' the Grand Mage continued, 'we have an idea. Sort of.'

'What is it?' Hazel asked.

'Well, we have a list of five possible places she could have gone to-'

Hazel groaned. Tanith didn't blame her. This wasn't looking promising.

'Would anyone care to tell me who we're talking about?' China asked.

'No,' Skulduggery stated. 'Go away.'

China didn't move.

'He said go away,' Tanith said acidly. 'And so did I, a few minutes ago. And I'm sure everyone here is screaming it at you, in their minds. So please, China, do us all a favour, and actually _go away_.'

China looked at her for the longest moment, then turned her pale-eyed gaze to Skulduggery, then Erskine then Ghastly, then she turned slowly, deliberately, and walked away. She added over her shoulder, as if to prove that the damage we'd done to her dignity wasn't permanent, 'Take your time in answering. I'm available every day of the week, thanks to my sufficient lack of company, so you can drop by and tell me whenever you want.'

****HL** **

Slipping past the Cleavers at the Sanctuary's entrance wasn't easy, but after going on a huge killing spree, you sort of start thinking that you can do anything. And when you think that you can do anything, you _can _do anything. Kind of. Well, you still can't do most things, but you certainly _feel _like you can. So getting into the Sanctuary was surprisingly easy for Valkyrie.

On the way there, she'd come up with several excuses for stopping off at her room before going to her friends, and most of them were actually valid. Firstly, she needed to make herself presentable. There'd be no good in assuring anyone that the slip-up earlier was nothing if she showed up covered in blood with her dress in ruins. Secondly, she felt like utter crap right then, and if she was going to explain anything, she needed to be feeling at least semi-alright in order to do it. And if she was going to start feeling at least semi-alright, she needed a shower and a change of clothes. Thirdly- well, she'd actually only come up with _two _excuses. But, really, one would have been enough to convince herself.

She made her way up to her room and slipped the door open, thankful that she had left it unlocked. She clicked it shut behind her, and then let out a huge breath. The first thing she did was strip off her destroyed clothes- when she was done getting over the death and destruction and general horror, Willow was going to have a fit upon seeing the beautiful dress she'd approved of in ruins- and kick off her bloodied heels and tear off all of her jewellery. Then she stepped into the shower, and as soon as she felt the warm water trickle down her body, she felt like a heavy weight was being lifted off her shoulders. The water turned pink as it mixed with the blood that pretty much coated her body, and it was a relief to see the last bit of pink water swirl down the drain. There. Clean. She stood under the hot water for a few more selfish minutes, watching the steam swirl away from her, before turning the water off and stepping out. She dried off and changed into her fighting clothes. It was entirely inappropriate for her to be thinking about how she'd look like a duck among swans when everyone else down there would be wearing fancy gowns, but she thought it anyway.

Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and made her way down to the Great Hall.

**A/N: And I think I'll leave it there. I felt cruel after leaving you with that last chapter, so here you go- this one felt strangely nice to write when accompanied by sad music and no internet. Odd.  
>Anyway, I hope you liked. I figured I'd be nice and let Alice live. This decision was influenced by the sight of you lot falling apart over poor Alice in your reviews. So she lives... <em>for now<em>. Muahahaha.  
>Anyway, thank you for reading, reviewing, alerting, favouriting, breathing. Please drop a review on your way out- as you can see, it's become wonderfully easy to do so. You can even add the story to your favourites and alert list as you do so. How magical!<br>See you next chapter!  
>~AlisaPhenom. XoXo<strong>


	42. Secret Plans

**Chapter 42. **

A loud rapping on the doors of the Great Hall interrupted their conversation.

Immediately, every head in the room whipped round to stare at the huge doors. There was a short pause, and then another knock sounded, louder this time.

Then, a voice: 'For God's sake, will someone let me in?'

Blade froze, as did the others. 'V-Valkyrie? Is that you?' he called out after a moment's hesitation.

'No, I'm Skulduggery. Of course it's me, you idiot! Could you let me in? The doors are barred or something, and it completely ruined my plan to make a big dramatic entrance.'

All eyes quickly turned to Erskine now, wondering if he was going to open the doors. The rest of the party didn't see a problem with letting her in, and why would they? They didn't know that she was Darquesse.

Darquesse... was she still Darquesse? It certainly didn't sound like it; she sounded completely normal, like she'd just popped out to buy some milk, rather than to go on a killing spree.

The people in the room were growing more confused with every long second that passed, and Valkyrie only knocked once more before leaving them to decide whether they trusted her enough to let her in. Then Blade heard Skulduggery mutter something under his breath and start striding over to the door.

'Skulduggery, wait!' Tanith hissed, wide-eyed. 'You don't know if she's still-'

'Do you really think _she_ would be knocking at the door?' Skulduggery questioned, paused mid-stride with his head tilted.

'Hurry up, please,' Valkyrie called. 'If it helps, I'm me again.'

'Maybe she just wants us to think she's back to normal so that-'

'So that what?' Skulduggery was tapping his foot now, obviously impatient. 'There would be nothing for her to achieve through that. She can achieve anything she wants through power and violence. Why bother pretending to be innocent when you can just slaughter your way to what you want?' With that, he turned and resumed his short journey to the doors. He unlocked them and pulled them open, wasting no time with dramatics, and then Valkyrie was walking in, eyebrow raised.

'_Thank _you,' she said to him. She looked around at everyone in the room, and, even though the rest of her face was perfectly composed as always, Blade noticed the tiny speck of anxiety in her eyes. 'Well?' she said expectantly.

She'd changed out of that gorgeous dress and into her fighting clothes, but other than that, it didn't _look _like much had happened since she... left. She certainly wasn't splattered with blood or guts or human flesh.

Soon enough, everyone managed to tear their eyes away from the strange, strange Sanctuary agent and get back to their evening, with the 'big event' seemingly over. Valkyrie quickly made her way over to the group, but stopped short when she saw Larrika and Penum. 'Who are you?' she asked bluntly. _Manners have never been her strong point,_Blade thought wryly.

Larrika, it seemed, had frozen with fear, but managed to move enough to point a shaky finger at Valkyrie. 'You- you-' She stopped, seemingly unable to finish.

Penum frowned before shooting Valkyrie a look and putting a gentle hand on Larrika's arm, guiding it back down to her side while rubbing a soothing circle on her shoulder. He must have been mightily confused as to why the hell he needed to do that.

Valkyrie stared. 'I... what?'

'Valkyrie,' Erskine said, and she turned her attention back to the Grand Mage. 'What _happened_?'

She hesitated, then shrugged, the worry in her eyes increasing. 'You know, the usual.'

'Which is?'

Her face darkened, some unidentifiable expression replacing the worry in her eyes. 'I don't think you really want to know.'

No one questioned that.

'How are you back?' Blade asked, sensing the need to change the subject.

Valkyrie shrugged, looking at Larrika and Penum and then looking down. 'Got sentimental,' she muttered.

Blade, following his mentor's lead, fixed his eyes on the psychic and her companion. This whole questioning thing would be _so _much easier without them here, but if they were sent away, there was no doubt that they'd tell someone else about what Larrika had apparently discovered about Darquesse's identity- unless they were accompanied by someone... but who here was going to give up the chance to find out what happened with Valkyrie in order to escort those two annoyances somewhere else? He sighed. _This _was why he hated things like this. Something always went wrong.

Skulduggery seemed to have been following the same train of thought, as he turned to Larrika and Penum and said, 'You are to stand here and keep silent while we listen to our friend explain things. You are to tell no one what you hear. Do you understand?'

Larrika's eyes narrowed. 'Listen here, skeleton-'

'Do you understand?' Skulduggery had taken on that threatening tone of voice, the one that always frightened the life out of Blade.

Larrika glared, but then nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Skulduggery turned back to Valkyrie. 'Tell us everything,' he ordered.

****HL** **

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Stephanie cursed, running a hand through her hair and looking in the direction of Alice's room. She'd nearly let stupid Valkyrie kill her little sister. Stupid, stupid Valkyrie. Stupid, stupid Stephanie.

She sighed. And still no phone call.

Stephanie looked back at the phone lying on her unmade bed. It had been silent all night, and she was beginning to think that it would remain that way for the rest of it. But Larrika had promised her she'd do it tonight- she'd _promised_, and she said she'd call straight after it happened to share her revelations with Stephanie. So why...?  
>Stephanie shook her head, frustrated by everything. Maybe Darquesse had gotten to her, tried to stop her and succeeded. It wasn't unlikely- the psychopath <em>was <em>loose tonight, clearly. Stephanie sighed. Maybe she'd have to find another way to exploit Valkyrie, after all.

But... this had been her best method, the one sure-fire plan that could help her get her way. Darn. It was almost heart-breaking to let it go. Maybe _she _should call _her_, instead of the other way round. Who knows, maybe the psychic had just forgotten about it, gotten so caught up in the shock of the revelation that she forgot to make one simple phone call.

Or maybe she was too _frightened_ to call... that seemed more than plausible, really, considering what she must have just seen.

Stephanie refrained the urge to roll her eyes and then picked up the phone, typing in the number she had learned to recite off by heart for the last few weeks. After a few long moments, there was an answer, and a female voice spoke, confusion laced through her tone. 'Who is this?'

'It's me,' Stephanie answered. 'Obviously. You have caller ID, don't you?'

There was a pause. 'But... I don't understand.'

Stephanie, frankly, didn't give a damn about what Larrika Wise did or didn't understand. She got straight to the point. 'Did you get it?'

'I- I did, but I- how are you on the phone to me? You're stood right over there.'

Stephanie frowned and glanced around. Maybe she'd worked the poor woman too hard, and she was now hallucinating after the severity of her task. 'No, I'm not,' Stephanie said slowly. 'I'm in my room, and you are not. You're at the ball.' No answer. 'You... you _are_ at the ball, aren't you, Larrika? You _did _stick to the plan?'

'I'm at the ball. But...' Yet _another_ pause, and this time, Stephanie almost heard the _click _of understanding in Larrika's mind. 'You're not Valkyrie Cain, are you?'

'Oh,' Stephanie said. 'Oh, right. I forgot you were clueless. No, I'm not Valkyrie Cain.'

'Who _are_ you?'

'My name is Stephanie.'

'But... you're just like her. You're just like Cain. You have her face, and her voice, and- oh, god, you-'

'I know,' Stephanie smiled. 'I've been hearing that for as long as I can remember.'

'Tell me what's going on.' The woman's tone had changed from being confused to being threatening, now. 'Tell me, Stephanie.'

'I'm Valkyrie's reflection,' Stephanie explained.

'That... doesn't make sense. Reflections are-'

'I know, I know, reflections are emotionless and stupid and dull, I've heard this all before. I'm not your average reflection, though- I'm special.'

'_How_?'

'I'll explain all of that later,' Stephanie said, struggling to keep her tone patient. 'For now, I need you to tell me what you saw tonight.'

Another pause. Stephanie wasn't sure how much more pausing she could take. It seemed like everything this woman did had to be done with a dramatic pause of some sort. 'I- I saw you.' Stephanie was sure she heard the woman's voice shake. 'I saw _you_- or Valkyrie, I don't know- destroying the world.' Larrika exhaled shakily; the sound was loud against Stephanie's ear.

Stephanie's smile widened her face considerably. 'It was Valkyrie,' she said assuringly. 'But that's good, Larrika. Well done. All the hard work and weeks of planning- it was all worth it, wasn't it? For this?'

No reply.

'You got what you wanted,' Stephanie continued. 'And I helped you to get it, and you're welcome.'

Larrika was speaking in hushed tones now. 'I'm confused. _Valkyrie Cain_ is Darquesse?'

'You'll get over it. I'll explain everything later, but first, I need you to do something for me- can you do something for me?'

'I suppose,' Larrika replied after a hesitation, sounding unsure.

'I need you to kill the person you saw destroying the world.'

'But that was you.'

God, could this woman _be _more of an idiot? Stephanie found it cringe-worthy that this was exactly what she herself had been like, back when she was just a boring reflection. 'No, that was Valkyrie.' Stephanie rolled her eyes, letting the impatience seep into her tone. 'Didn't you listen? All of that destruction and death and horror, that was Valkyrie. Not me. I'm trying to _stop_ her from doing all of that. And I want you to help me, okay? Help me by killing her.'

'I- I'm not sure if I can...'

Stephanie heard a soft cry come from Alice's room. Probably hungry or cold or something. A small smile rose up on Stephanie's face at the very thought of Alice- _her _little sister. Not Valkyrie's, but _hers._ 'I think you can do it,' she said. 'You've seen her, haven't you? Seen what she's going to do, how she's going to do it. Think about it- you are the only person in the _world _with at least a decent chance at stopping her. You're the only one with any idea of who Darquesse even is.'

'But-'

'Larrika. You can't quit on me now. You just can't. We've had this plan perfected for weeks now, and it's just getting started. You are the only living person in the _world_ who is able to stop her now, the only person who's seen her, the only person who'd be _willing_.'

'But her friends know.'

Stephanie snorted. 'Do you really think they're going to kill her?'

No reply.

'Are they with you now?' Stephanie asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

'N-no, no. I snuck away to take this call. They- Valkyrie is with them. It's a long story, but- she, I don't know, _transformed_ into Darquesse earlier, and now she's back, and she's explaining what happened while she was... away.'

Stephanie's eyes narrowed fully now. Oh, she knew about _that_. Valkyrie's stupid little slip-up, which had nearly cost an innocent child's life. 'Listen to what she's saying,' Stephanie ordered. 'The next stage of our plan starts _now_, Larrika.'

'What stage is that?'

Stephanie let out a deep breath. 'The killing stage. You are to find out everything you can about her, and how you can stop her. Do everything in your power. Can you handle that?'

'Of course.' Larrika sounded more confident now- of course. Make a girl feel special, like she's the only woman in the world who can do something, and she'll do anything to prove herself.

'Great,' Stephanie said. 'Try not to give yourself away, and- have fun.' The call ended, and Stephanie smiled.

Soon. Soon, everything would be right in the world.

**A/N: It's short, it's late, and it's probably rather crappy, but here it is.  
>Happy updating day!<br>I hope you liked this chapter. In case the end only made sense in my mind, basically, Larrika and Stephanie (whom Larrika had always thought was actually Valkyrie) have been working together these past few weeks. The plan was for Larrika to have the vision in which Darquesse's true identity would be revealed in the middle of the ball, when everyone was paying attention, and then they would both exploit Valkyrie's secret and take her down. Of course, Larrika had no idea that the person she was working with was Valkyrie's reflection, and had no idea that Valkyrie was the person they were working against.  
>Ooh, the mystery prevails. Will Larrika manage it? Will I stop sounding like a cheesy TV narrator? <em>Will Derek Landy give us more information about the Tanith novella he's making? <em>  
>Ahem. I want to thank you all for reading, reviewing, favouriting and alerting. It really just means so much to me when I see that this story is actually liked, and it also prompts faster updates and, I don't know, better ideas to come to my head. The point is, reviews and stuff are beneficial to all of us, and therefore you should do so. Thank you.<br>Also, in regards to certain requests that certain people are making- I am trying my very hardest to grant them all, even if they contradict each other in some way. They probably won't take over the story, but you know, I'll put in certain little moments. Anything to keep you little minions happy. I will now finish the author's note that has probably lasted longer than the actual chapter.  
>See you next chapter!<br>~Heather. XoXo  
>(Yes, I'm signing off with Heather now- too many people are referring to me as Alisa, it's grinding my gears.) <strong>


	43. What To Do With Larrika

**Chapter 43. **

'And here I am,' Valkyrie said, finally finishing her long-winded explanation of the events that had transpired since she burst through the roof of the Great Hall. At the thought of it, her eyes flickered up to the roof; obviously, it hadn't been repaired since she'd done the damage. A jagged, gaping hole in the ceiling brought a chill into the room. She looked back at everyone, and her heart sank to see that they all looked uncomfortable. No one's eyes met hers; not even Skulduggery's. He'd looked away from her the moment that she said she'd nearly killed Alice. Valkyrie sighed. 'And now you think I'm a monster.'

'No, we don't,' Tanith assured her, although the blonde seemed to be fixated with Valkyrie's boots.

'We understand that it wasn't you who did all of those things,' Hazel said with a weak smile. She looked pale; tough as the girl might act, she always did cringe away when it came to murder. Blood and guts and gore? Sure, no problem- but actual death? Not her thing.

'You... you must feel awful,' Willow said, a mix of pity and sympathy on her face. 'With your sister and all-'

Blade cleared his throat pointedly, shooting Willow a look. She shut up immediately, and Valkyrie nudged Blade lightly. 'It's fine,' she said, though the very thought of what she had nearly done to her own little sister made her throat tighten in the most unpleasant of ways. 'Although I would appreciate a subject change.' She shot a glance towards Larrika, who had been joined by Penum in her little corner after promising she wouldn't say anything to anyone, including the mystery person whom she'd been on the phone to. 'Who the hell are they, and what the hell is going on?'

'It's a long story,' Erskine said with a grimace. 'Larrika is a psychic, and she had a vision earlier, while you were... away.'

A ball of dread welled up in Valkyrie's stomach and sat there like a lump of lead. Nothing good ever came of random psychics having visions, and Erskine's tone of voice wasn't doing anything to reassure her, either. 'What was the vision about?' she asked carefully.

Erskine sighed. 'Well, it was about you. Darquesse. She had a vision of Darquesse destroying the world.'

Valkyrie waved it off, albeit shakily. 'Who cares? Psychics have had visions about me before. As long as they don't recognise me, it's all good.' No one replied. 'Right?'

'See, that's the thing,' Ghastly took over. 'Larrika _did _recognise you. For years now, ever since she first heard about Darquesse, she's been training herself to be good enough to see what no psychic had ever done before and lived long enough to talk about- see Darquesse's real identity in a single vision. And she did it, tonight.'

Valkyrie stared. Her fingers moved to fiddle with the zipper of the jacket that Ghastly had made for her. 'That's not good,' she said slowly. 'Did she-'

'No, she didn't tell anyone, apart from us. But we already knew, so...'

'Penum doesn't know,' Erskine added quickly. 'Larrika didn't say anything about the vision- we didn't give her the chance.'

'Yeah, about that; who _is _Penum?'

Tanith shrugged. 'Just a guy,' she said. 'He was helping to train Larrika to be good enough to have the vision.'

'He must be good, if it worked so well.'

'He must be.'

Silence took over, and Valkyrie took the opportunity to fix her attention on Larrika. The woman's hand was still on her phone, twirling it around in her hand, even though she had long since ended the conversation. She was nodding along to something that Penum was saying beside her, looking vaguely disinterested; her attention, it seemed, was on Valkyrie. Larrika was staring right at her, eyes distant.

Valkyrie understood; Larrika was afraid of her. It was only natural- she had, after all, not long ago seen a vision of Valkyrie tearing the world apart. It was entirely understandable that the woman be staring at her.

So why did Valkyrie have a bad feeling about her?

Her dark eyes narrowed as she examined Larrika further; she still hadn't put her phone away. Clearly expecting another call, then. Valkyrie wondered who she was talking to, who could possibly tear the psychic's attention away from the psychopath she'd seen in her vision.

'Valkyrie,' someone said, snapping Valkyrie's attention back to them. She looked at Blade, raising an eyebrow in question. He gave her an odd look, then repeated himself: 'So what do we do now?'

'Oh,' she said. 'Well... I guess we just go on.'

'Go on?' Hades frowned.

'You know, like we always do,' Valkyrie said. 'Accept what happened tonight and then move on with things.'

'Valkyrie, I'd like to speak with you for a second.' Skulduggery said it as a statement, not a request. He started to walk away to a more private spot, and Valkyrie exchanged a look with Tanith, Ghastly and Erskine before following him.

'What is it, Skul?'

He was quiet for a moment before saying, 'You nearly killed your sister.'

Valkyrie nodded, looking down. 'So I did.'

'You're okay with that?'

Valkyrie looked up, letting her narrowed eyes meet with his empty sockets. 'Of course I'm not _okay with it_,' she said in a hiss 'I nearly killed her. Alice. My little sister. The _four-year-old girl _in cute pyjamas whom I once held and fed and looked after.' Valkyrie felt tears prick at her eyes, tears that she had been holding back seemingly all night, and she felt stupid. It had only been one simple, innocent question, asked by someone she was confident in calling her best friend. But that question... how _dare _he make out like she was _okay _with nearly killing her little sister? 'I'd have to be a monster to be okay with that! I _hate _myself for it- you of all people should understand how that feels!' She paused, looked away, took a deep breath. Skulduggery didn't say a word; he merely fixed her with his empty gaze and let her vent. 'But you know what? That part of me, the one that lets Darquesse take over- that part of me _liked _it. It made me _enjoy _the feeling of being able to reach my hand out and twist and cause my sister's insides to turn to liquid.'

Skulduggery stayed quiet.

'Of course I'm not okay with it, Skulduggery, but I _was_. At the time, it was enjoyable- I couldn't see a thing wrong with it. Cause the reflection some pain, have one less life to end in the future. Win-win for me, right?' A bubble of hysterical laughter rose from her lips before she could stop it, and she was more embarrassed than she would ever admit to find that the tears had spilled over her cheeks and were flowing steadily. 'I mean, when you think about it, it was the best choice I could have made!'

'Valkyrie,' Skulduggery said quietly.

Valkyrie ignored him and continued, 'But now, all I feel is guilt, and shame, and abject _misery_. I nearly ended the life of my own flesh and blood- and what's worse is that I wouldn't have stopped there. I would have wanted more- because that's what I'm like, when I'm Darquesse. Once I've killed one person, I start to crave the feeling of being able to kill again. I'm bloodthirsty, and there's never enough to drink. I would have gone on to kill my parents, and then I would have moved on to some other innocent family's house and slaughtered all of them, too, and I wouldn't have stopped until the whole of Haggard was dead- and even then, I'd go on to the next town and start looking for my next victims. All it took was one slip of my self-control, and _bam_, I'm a killer.'

'Valkyrie, calm down.'

'_Don't _tell me to calm down, Skulduggery! Don't you _dare_ tell me to calm down!' Her voice was raised now, and attention was being drawn their way. She ignored it all. A mixture of red hot rage and deep aching sorrow was bubbling up inside her, and it reminded her of how she felt earlier, when she had the lives of everyone at that public park in her hands. So hurt, so angry, so raw, that it made her powerful. The feeling was unshakeable; once it started, it spread and spread until it was surrounding her very core and buzzing, persistent and dangerously tempting, begging to be in control. 'I know you may _think _you know how this feels, but you don't-'

'Of course I do,' he interrupted, sounding as frustratingly calm as ever. 'You know who I've been in the past. You know that I understand what you're going through better than anyone, Valkyrie, and right now, you need to _calm down_.'

His words only annoyed her more. The feeling inside her grew, practically humming gently into her ears now. She glared the coldest glare she could muster at Skulduggery. 'Shut up.'

'Valkyrie, do you want to kill again?'

'Shut _up_.'

'Do you?'

'_No_!' she hissed.

'Then you need to calm down.'

'Why should I?'

'Because you've had shadows swirling around you for the past five minutes now.'

She stopped, and looked down at herself. It was true. Swirls of darkness curled around her, both threatening and defensive at the same time. She frowned and withdrew them, and looked back up at Skulduggery; her head was clear, now, and the dark feeling had dispersed. 'W-what _was _that?' she asked, glancing around. A few people were looking her way. She cast them away, as she always did, with a quick glare.

'That was Darquesse,' Skulduggery said simply.

Valkyrie made a frustrated noise and ran a hand through her hair. 'We need to find a way to stop her,' she said. She'd give anything to be able to go up to her room and take a nice, long nap right about now.

'We do,' Skulduggery agreed, nodding. 'You're getting angry too easily.'

'It's not _my _fault-'

'Valkyrie.'

She looked away. 'Right. Sorry. Well, how do I work on being less angry? I'm a naturally angry person, Skulduggery, ask anyone.'

'Oh, I know how angry you can be,' he said, sounding vaguely amused. 'We can't find a way to control _that_; I wouldn't want to, even if we could. It's a part of what makes you _you_. No, what we need to do is find a way to let you reign that anger in whenever you feel it- so that, as soon as you start to feel even the slightest bit of that rage that prompts Darquesse to emerge, you can push it back down and regain control.'

Valkyrie nodded. 'Sounds good. How do we do that?'

'Haven't the foggiest.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Comforting.'

He shrugged his bony shoulders. 'We have every bit of the Sanctuary's power at our disposal. I'm sure we can find something to help a psychopath in need.'

'You're not doing a very good job of not making me angry.'

He nodded. 'Maybe I'm testing you.'

'I think you're just being annoying.'

'To test you.'

'No, because you're a naturally annoying person.'

'Annoying? Me?' He sounded offended. 'My dear girl, you have much to learn. There are many more annoying people than myself in the world that you have yet to meet.'

'Like?'

'I'll let you know when I think of someone.'

Valkyrie laughed, and then glanced back at her American friends, stood having a conversation with Tanith, Ghastly and Erskine, trying their very hardest to act like they _weren't _trying to see what her and Skulduggery were talking about. She rolled her eyes and turned back to her skeleton mentor. 'Where _do _we go from here?' she asked quietly.

'In what sense?'

'Well, I mean- the case is closed now, isn't it? We figured out who's been murdering people, and we put a stop to them. There. Done.' She frowned. 'Does this mean that we go back to America now, or...?'

Skulduggery didn't reply for a few seconds, but when he did, his voice was uncharacteristically quiet, lacking that wonderful velvety quality Valkyrie loved so much. 'I didn't know you were planning on leaving again.'

'Well, yeah,' she said, although she had to admit, she'd been doubtful herself. 'I can't exactly leave them now, can I? And I couldn't ask them to stay in Ireland with me.' She was referring to, of course, her group of American friends: Hazel, Maddox, Willow, Blade and Hades.

'Why ever not?'

'Well, they have _lives _there- we work for the American Sanctuary, and I'm pretty sure Blade and Hades still talk to their dad, and we have an apartment-'

'So?'

'_So_, I can't just ask them to uproot and move to Ireland with me. That's too much.'

'They'd do it, though. For their beloved mentor and friend.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'I don't doubt that they would,' she admitted. 'But it's just too much to ask of them. And besides... it's true that Darquesse didn't emerge even once while I was in America. There'd been a few temptations and maybe a few slip-ups on the good behaviour, but no outright murder sprees. Not like since I've been back here. I don't know what it is- maybe it's that this place is a Cradle of Magic, and it's so powerful that it just prompts this chance in me, I don't know. Maybe it's that I'm around so many people that I care about over here.'

Skulduggery cocked his head to the side. 'Are you saying that you don't care about anyone back in America?'

She hesitated. 'That's not what I'm saying,' she said. 'What I'm saying is-'

'You've grown closer to your friends lately,' Skulduggery said. 'Especially the boy, Blade. I've no doubt that your increasing emotional attachment is what's encouraging Darquesse to emerge- she's taking advantage of your weakness when it comes to them, the soft spot in your otherwise solid shell.'

'I don't understand.'

'I'm probably talking nonsense.'

'So...' Valkyrie frowned. 'You're saying that the more attached I get to people, and the more loved ones I'm around, the better the chance Darquesse has of emerging? Because she's able to take advantage of the gap in my mind and use that against me?' It was a confusing theory, and one that didn't seem all that likely- since when did caring for people create a _gap _in a person's mind?- but... well, it _did _fit. Sort of.

'It's a theory I've had for a while now.'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

He shrugged. 'It was just a theory.'

'You should have shared it with me the moment you started to suspect it.'

He gave yet another shrug. 'Silly me for not doing that.'

Valkyrie sighed. 'But it can't be right.'

'And why ever not?'

'Because it wasn't like I was totally emotionally detached back in California,' she reminded him. 'I had Blade and Willow and Hazel and Maddox and Hades. I've cared about them since we became friends.'

Skulduggery shrugged. 'It's only a theory. All theories have their flaws.'

'This is a pretty big flaw.' She shook her head. 'Whatever. I don't care what's making her emerge, as long as she's not emerging.'

'But she is emerging. And the things that cause her to emerge play a pretty big part in her not emerging.'

Valkyrie glared. 'Shut up.' Then she looked over her shoulder at the others and called, 'You can stop trying to listen in now. We're done talking.'

Within seconds, they were being crowded by the others. 'Is everything okay?' Blade asked, green eyes concerned. 'You were talking for a long time.'

'We were talking about what might cause Darquesse to emerge,' Valkyrie said smoothly. It wasn't a complete lie- the latter part of the conversation _did _revolve around Skulduggery's little theory. Then she paused. 'Emerge,' she muttered. 'It sounds funny.'

'That's because the word _emerge _has been uttered roughly fifty-six times in the last forty seconds,' Skulduggery stated.

'You kept count?'

'I always kept count.'

Erskine smirked. 'Do you always have to try to make things sound all dramatic and impressive?'

'No.'

The smirk faltered slightly. 'Oh.'

'I just have that effect.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. It never ceased to amaze her, how calm her friends were about some things. Sure, they would freak out occasionally, if the situation was big enough- but always, always, they were so quick to recover and move onto other things, masking those complicated emotions like fear and pain with wit and sarcasm. She wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad trait for them as a group to have, but she did know that she herself did it far too often, too.

'Back to the matter at hand,' Ghastly said, giving Valkyrie a smile that was weak and unconvincing. Nevertheless, she smiled back, because it was always nice to know that there were people who would smile at you despite the fact that you have a split personality and turn into a raging psychopath on occasion. 'What are we going to do about this little Darquesse problem?'

Hades snorted. 'Little?'

'And what about Larrika and Penum?' Ghastly continued, ignoring Hades. 'With the knowledge they have, we can't just let them go off. There's nothing stopping Larrika from telling Penum, and there's nothing stopping either of them from telling the whole of the magical community- hell, the whole world, if they're feeling up to it.'

'If only there was some way to erase people's memories,' Tanith mused aloud.

'Is there?' Hazel asked, eyebrows rose. 'I mean, I haven't heard of any magic that could do that, but you never know, these days, do you?'

'No branch of magic _or _technology that exists is able to erase people's memories,' Skulduggery said. 'It would be nice, and remarkably convenient, but unfortunately, it doesn't exist.'

Hazel gave a frown and a shrug.

'We could just kill them,' Tanith said casually. Everyone looked sharply at her, and she rolled her eyes. 'I was joking. Calm down.'

'Killing them is _not _an option,' Erskine said sternly. 'Just in case any of you were thinking it was.' At this, his eyes drifted towards Hades, who raised his arms in a _what did I do? _gesture.

'Prison cells?' Valkyrie suggested.

'Unless they commit a crime in the nearby future, there's no justification for locking them up in a jail cell,' Ghastly said, shaking his head. 'It's not like we can just shrug and say that they know too much. The community would demand to know why they were being locked up, and there's nothing we can say without lying to them.'

'We could lie to them,' Valkyrie said.

'_No_, Valkyrie.'

'It'd be an easy option, that's all.'

'Any other ideas?' Erskine asked, running a hand through his short hair.

No one spoke up.

'Really, we-'

'_We are not throwing them in a jail cell, Valkyrie._'

She pursed her lips and looked down.

'Are you discussing _us_?' came an offended voice from behind Valkyrie. She glanced over her shoulder, knowing that she would see Larrika and Penum stood there, in all their overly-serious glory.

'No,' Valkyrie said. 'We're discussing the weather.'

'You want to throw the weather in a jail cell?'

'It's been _criminally _cold lately.'

Larrika rolled her eyes, and Penum pinched his lips together, doing a poor job of holding back a smile. Valkyrie smirked. At least _someone _appreciated her humour.

'You're worried that I'm going to say something,' Larrika stated. 'I must assure you that you have nothing to worry about, if that's the case. I haven't even told Penum here, and I normally tell Penum _everything_.' Her eyes locked onto Valkyrie's. 'Your secret is safe with me.'

Valkyrie's own eyes narrowed. 'You see,' she said, suddenly serious. 'We can't take that risk.'

'You don't trust me?'

'Frankly, no,' Skulduggery said. 'You haven't given us any reason to.'

'I haven't given you any reason _not _to, either.'

Blade cut in. 'What, you expect us to believe that you had no motive for making yourself see what you've seen? Why would you force yourself to have a vision like that if you were planning on keeping the information to yourself? What could you possibly gain from having that burden on your shoulders and no one else's?'

Larrika shrugged, eyes never leaving Valkyrie's. 'I was curious.'

'Curiosity killed the cat,' Valkyrie said.

'And satisfaction brought it back.'

There was a short silence, in which Valkyrie refused to drop Larrika's gaze. They stared almost challengingly at each other until Erskine's voice broke the tension. 'We just can't take any chances, Miss Wise.'

'So, what?' Larrika sneered faintly. She seemed to have gotten over her fear of Valkyrie rather quickly. 'You keep me on house arrest for the rest of my life?'

'Not house arrest,' Ghastly said, shaking his head. 'More like... Sanctuary arrest.'

Larrika glared at him. 'You can't do that to me,' she said. 'Not without reason.'

'But we _have _a reason.'

'Is it a reason you're willing to let the public know?'

Erskine hesitated. 'We'll _think _of a reason.'

Valkyrie smirked and waggled her eyebrows at him, mouthing, 'Not such a bad idea now, is it?'

He ignored her. 'We're sorry, Miss Wise. We can't risk information like that getting out.'

Larrika was starting to look exasperated now. 'Don't you see? If I'd have wanted to tell people, Penum would be the first person I'd have told, and look at him! He knows nothing about what's going on!'

They all looked at Penum, who was staring at his own shoes. 'Actually... I do.'

They all groaned.

It's not that hard to guess,' he mumbled defensively, then looked up at them all. 'It's obvious that the information is important to you, vitally important- and, judging by how defensive and secretive you're being over it, it's very likely that you're trying to protect someone. I'm assuming that this someone is among this group, and...' He looked at Valkyrie. 'Judging by tonight's events, I'm guessing that the someone is you, Miss Cain.'

Valkyrie stared at him, unable to formulate a response for a second. Then she pursed her lips and turned to Larrika. 'See? Clearly he knows.'

'He _guessed_, I can hardly keep him from doing that. _You're _the ones making it obvious that this information is precious to you.' Larrika glared. 'Me and Penum will be the only ones who know, I swear.'

'You expect us to just take your word for that?' Skulduggery questioned. 'No is no, Wise. Live up to your namesake- be _wise _and do what we tell you.'

Valkyrie rolled her eyes; she'd been beginning to think that she'd missed Skulduggery making a pun out of the woman's last name. Larrika's fiery gaze went to each of them before settling on Valkyrie. Her mouth was set in a hard line, eyebrows dead set together. She stayed like that for a few more moments before turning on her heel and stalking away, immediately followed by Penum.

Another moment of silence, and then Valkyrie let out a sigh of relief. 'I hate this whole situation,' she muttered. 'Damn her and her stupid visions.'

'Damn Penum for teaching her how to have those stupid visions,' Tanith said in agreement.

'Damn... I can't think of anyone else to damn,' Erskine said with a frown. Valkyrie chuckled at him.

'Well, I don't know about anyone else, but for me, it's been a long night,' she said. 'Frankly, I don't know if I can go back to boring socialization after all that. So I'm going to bed.'

'I'll go with you,' Blade said, smiling at her and taking her hand.

'Oh, no, you're not,' Skulduggery said.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

'Not like that,' Blade muttered, though his cheeks had turned a rather unflattering shade of pink.

'Come on,' Valkyrie said, tugging at his arm and pulling him away. 'Night,' she called to the others in the group as she strode out of the Great Hall, boyfriend in tow, ready to collapse into bed after possibly the longest evening of her existence.

**A/N: Eh, not sure how I feel about this chapter. It took a long time to write because I couldn't think of anything particularly interesting to put in, and so it's basically a really long filler. More action next chapter, I promise.  
>Anyway, I hope you liked it. If you see any mistakes, blame my proof-reader, who has apparently taken a big, long hike away from Fanfiction for a while.<br>Anyway, please review- I would like to thank those who DID review last chapter, even though that was only three of you. Come _on_, guys, you can post more reviews than that! Just think of the wonderful smile that'll light up my face when I see the email notifications! Isn't that reason enough? PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE  
>Ahem, anyway. Thanks for everyone who alerted, favourited, reviewed, read, etc. See you next chapter!<br>~Heather. XoXo**


	44. Break Me Out

**Chapter 44.**

Valkyrie sighed quietly and let her head fall back against her bedroom wall. She and Blade were sitting on her bed, legs outstretched and overlapping each other, neither of them saying a word and willing to keep it that way. It was a comfortable position to be in.

After a while, Valkyrie finally spoke. 'You're still here,' she noted, ever the brilliant detective. She tilted her head slightly so she was looking at Blade, eyebrow slightly raised in question.

'Your observational skills astound me,' Blade replied teasingly, smiling that lopsided smile at her. 'It's good of you to notice.'

She rolled her eyes. 'It's... something past eleven. You've been here for at least three hours. Isn't it past your bedtime or something?'

'I'm being a rebel.' He grinned. 'I'm sneaking out late with the girl of my dreams.'

Valkyrie smiled. 'You should be in bed.'

'I am in bed.'

'You're in my bed, and you're crushing my legs.'

'A bed is a bed.' He shrugged, and still didn't move himself.

Valkyrie gave him a look, then leaned over to plant a quick, fleeting kiss on his lips. 'I'm glad you're still here,' she murmured.

'Why, Miss Cain,' Blade said, smirking. 'Are you trying to seduce me?'

She rolled her eyes and kissed him again, and again, and again until Blade finally grew tired of her teasing and pulled her in for a single deep kiss. She snaked her arms around his shoulders, then pulled her face slightly away from his and said, 'I think I already have.'

'That much is true,' he muttered, before pulling her back into the kiss.

And, in that moment, Valkyrie was happy. She was sure that Blade was, too. It was nice, even if it was just for now, and there was no place she would rather be just then than on her bed in her boyfriend's arms, forgetting all about her troubles and the drama they would have to face in the morning.

All in all, she decided, it was a pretty good end to a pretty terrible night.

****HL****

After she had been roughly escorted to her nice, cosy Sanctuary cell, Larrika figured that then was a better time than any to let down her composed shield and let the real gravity of the task she had been assigned sink in.

She let out a quiet noise- not quite a groan, not quite a whimper, but something in between- and let her head fall between her knees in her curled-up position on the cold ground. Kill Darquesse. Take away the mighty and dangerous threat to the world. Murder Valkyrie Cain.

Impossible. It was an impossible task- for her, anyways. She was just a Seer. She had no powers outside of that ability, she didn't even have any fighting skills except for the basics. And what good would the basics be against someone as powerful as Darquesse? No, she simply couldn't do it. The mammoth task was too much for her. She'd have to tell the reflection that no, she couldn't do it, someone else would have to.

But then... who? Only she, the reflection and Cain's friends knew about Darquesse's true identity. That didn't leave many options. It left none, in fact- the reflection was devoid of any magic whatsoever and was just as useless at fighting as Larrika herself, if not worse. Cain's friends wouldn't do it, as had been made clear by their obvious devotion and loyalty to the girl. They wouldn't kill her. They'd always look for another option, and that would be their doom.

Her breathing hitched. So... it would have to be her, wouldn't it? Unless she told someone else. But then, who else would believe her? It would be her word against the word of the Grand Mage and all his allies. Her accusations would simply be laughed off, she would be called crazy. No one else could help her now- she was on her own, with only the reflection as support. And that wasn't saying much. All that the stupid reflection was good for was providing advice and some loose insight to the inner workings of Cain's mind as it was four years ago. No, not helpful at all.

Larrika raised her head slowly, eyes blinking rapidly. She wasn't used to this, having so much responsibility resting on her. It felt like she was carrying the world on her shoulders.

She let out a shaky breath. She just hoped that she wouldn't drop it.

****HL****

Valkyrie woke up the next morning in a bad mood. A bad, bad mood. Her eyes flew open the second that she awoke and she slowly sat upright in one smooth, fluid motion. She wasn't groggy, or sleepy. She was just angry, with no explanation as to why.

Well, maybe there was an explanation. She didn't have any memory of the dream she'd been having before she woke up, but she knew that it was a bad one. Bad dreams always put her in an unpleasant mood. It didn't help, of course, that she had turned into a complete psychopath the night before and gone on a killing spree, either.

'Good morning,' came a voice from the other side of the room, and Valkyrie jumped. Her head swivelled in the direction of the voice, and she found herself looking at a smiling Blade. Right, yeah. He'd slept in her room last night.

'Is it?' she grumbled as she threw the covers away from her and stepped out of bed, running a hand through her hair and fixing him with a stony look.

'I thought it was,' Blade replied, cocking an eyebrow. 'Sleep well?'

'What do you think?'

'I think I should shut up before you turn psycho and rip my head off,' he retorted. 'You're in a bad mood.'

'Your observational skills astound me,' she said flatly, mimicking his words to her last night.

He frowned. 'All right,' he said, getting up and crossing the room to her. 'What's wrong?'

She looked up at him, shook her head and looked away. 'Nothing,' she muttered. 'Bad dream.'

He looked at her, then, for the longest moment. Then he surprised her by pulling her in for a gentle hug. That was weird. Blade rarely hugged- he just wasn't the hugging type, and neither was Valkyrie. But hey, she wasn't complaining. Blade's arms were strong and warm around her, and a small fraction of unpleasantness in her mind melted away.

After some length of time- Valkyrie was hardly counting the seconds- she pulled away and scratched her neck. 'Thanks,' she muttered, almost inaudibly. Then, louder, she said, 'Now, get out. I'm getting changed.'

His brow furrowed as she pushed him out of the room. 'But you're already-'

She ignored him. 'Underwear,' she stated simply, and Blade didn't protest any more as she shut the door in his face.

****HL****

Stephanie was eating breakfast with her parents when the phone call came in.

She paused when her mobile started ringing, cereal spoon halfway to her mouth and dripping with milk, and looked between her parents. The spoon dropped back into the bowl with a clang, and she was already scraping her chair back and fishing around in her pockets for her phone before her parents could even ask questions. 'It's my friend,' she assured them

As she was leaving the kitchen, phone pressed to her ear, she overheard her father ask her mother: 'Since when did Steph have friends?'

She smiled to herself, then said, 'Hello?' She already knew who it would be- who else had her phone number?- but she enjoyed using the formality. It made her feel more human, somehow.

'Re- Stephanie, it's me,' Larrika said. Her voice was hushed, like she was trying not to be overheard. 'Listen, I'm at the Sanctuary.'

'That's good...' Stephanie said slowly, not sure what her partner in crime was getting at. 'Is there a reason for this phone call?'

'No, I mean...' She heard Larrika take a deep breath. 'I mean, I'm in a cell at the Sanctuary. They're keeping me here until they can figure out what to do with me. They don't want word about Darquesse getting out.'

Stephanie frowned. 'You got arrested?'

'Not arrested,' Larrika said after a short hesitation. 'I'm just in holding. They forgot to take my phone away. Can you get me out of here?'

'I can't do that.'

'Please,' Larrika pleaded. 'Look, can't you just get over here and pretend to be Valkyrie? You're her reflection, it shouldn't be too hard. The guards will listen to you.'

Stephanie contemplated this, then nodded slowly. 'Good idea,' she said. 'But... I want you to learn some independance. For Christ's sake, Larrika, if you can't break yourself out of a prison cell, how can you even hope of defeating Darquesse in the future? Figure something out. Get yourself out of there. Let me know when you're free.'

With that, she hung up, and returned to her kitchen table to have breakfast with her parents and her sister.****

**A/N: I wasn't intending for this chapter to be a filler, but it seems to have turned out that way, because literally nothing has happened and I want to shoot my brain in the brain.  
>Ahem. I'm very frustrated right now, because I'm writing this from my brand-spanking new Chromebook, which apparently is in the habit of reloading tabs when I'm in the middle of chapters in them. So that's the explanation as to why I haven't updated in forever and a day. Because Chrome keeps deleting my chapters.<br>I hope you enjoyed this, though. I suck at writing fluff, don't I? Please leave a review, and thank you to those who already have, as well as to those who have alerted and favourited. Gracias.  
>See you next chapter,<br>~Heather. XoXo**


	45. The Plan

**Chapter 45.**

As soon as she entered the Grand Mage's office, Valkyrie was assaulted with questions such as, 'How far are you willing to go to stop Darquesse, Valkyrie?' and 'Have you ever contemplated your... _options_, Valkyrie?' from Erskine, Ghastly and Skulduggery.

The look of bewilderment on the girl's face was comical. Tanith offered her friend an apologetic grin before taking a sip of her tea and saying, 'Let's give Valkyrie room to breathe, yeah? The whole point of this meeting is to find out ways to keep her alive, after all.'

The men halted their rapid-fire of questions immediately, and Valkyrie shot a frown in Tanith's direction. 'Wait, what? Keep me... what?'

Tanith put her teacup down and sighed. 'Val, we- er, well, we've kind of been talking about you for the past... oh, it has to have been nearly three hours now. Well, we've been talking about Darquesse. Who is you. Technically.' Upon seeing Valkyrie's warning glare, she repeated with extra emphasis, '_Technically._'

'What my stuttering girlfriend means to say,' Ghastly interjected smoothly, 'is that, while you were enjoying a good old lie-in, Erskine decided it would be a good idea to dragg us three out of bed so that we could discuss what to do... well, what to do about you.'

'About Darquesse,' Tanith amended hastily, seeing the defensiveness flare up in her Valkyrie's eyes once more.

'Yes.' Erskine nodded, eyeing Valkyrie wearily. 'See, we realised last night that we just can't afford to keep letting Darquesse out.'

'It's not my fault-'

'We know, we know that, we do,' he said quickly. 'It's just... we can't let it happen again. You know that we can't. Whether you can help it or not, we just... we can't let it happen again. So we've been trying to figure out ways to make it stop- without killing you, of course.'

After a moment, Valkyrie nodded slowly, then said, 'Well, okay, then. Have you come up with any ideas?'

Erskine, Ghastly, Skulduggery and Tanith all exchanged a look, before Skulduggery shrugged and nonchalantly said, 'None that are very good.'

'But you have come up with some.'

'Yes.'

Valkyrie contemplated this then sighed, crossing her arms and lifting an eyebrow expectantly. 'Go on, then- let's hear them.'

After a few moments of silence, Tanith frowned and looked at the three men in the room, only to see that they were staring at _her_, waiting for her to begin. She glared at them all, making a mental note to remind them all of their cowardice later, before looking back at Valkyrie and offering a hesitant grimace. 'Before I start, I want you to know that we've pretty much agreed that these options are out of the question.' She took a breath. 'The first idea was, well, for you to give up your magic.'

Valkyrie's expression shifted into something stoic and unreadable.

Tanith quickly backtracked. 'Of course, like I said, that's really not going to happen, and we're surely going to figure something else out-'

'No, no.' Valkyrie shook her head slowly. 'No. You're right, that is an option, and it's definitely the most effective one, besides killing me. I've been thinking a lot about that myself. It does seem like the only viable option that we have left, doesn't it?'

Skulduggery's voice was sharp when he spoke. 'We can figure something else out,' he said flatly. 'Valkyrie, you're not expected to just give up your magic like that. We won't _let y_ou give up your magic like that. It-'

Valkyrie frowned at him, eyes challenging. 'But think of the alternative, Skul! I mean, let's face it, I'm losing more and more control of Darquesse with every day that passes. Eventually, I'm just going to lose that control completely, and Darquesse will take over, and I'll end up destroying the world- all because, what, I'm too selfish to give up my magic?' Her eyes widened a fraction, like she was just realising how true this actually was, and Tanith felt a pang of sympathy for her friend.

'That won't happen,' Skulduggery replied stubbornly, shaking that skeletal head of his. 'Also, it would be lovely if you could stop cutting us off every time we start to make a suggestion.'

Valkyrie stayed silent this time, but glowered at him.

Tanith cleared her throat. 'We also thought about- well, what if there was a way to sort of cleanse your magic? Get rid of all the dark, evil bits, including your psychopathic alter-ego, but still keep all the good bits?'

'No, no,' Ghastly interjected. '_You _thought about that.'

Erskine sighed. 'Tanith, I thought we'd gathered that this is impossible.'

'We don't know that,' Tanith insisted. 'Think about it- almost anything's possible when we have access to the right amount of magic, right?'

'Not really, no.'

The ruffled blonde sighed impatiently, shooting the Grand Mage a withering look. 'Don't you remember when Valkyrie- I mean, Darquesse- took the Remnant out of me using just her magic? That's the kind of thing I'm talking about! If we could get Darquesse to do that to herself-'

'Tanith, honey, we appreciate what you're saying, and actually, it's a good idea. It's just... we're not exactly going to get Darquesse to suddenly decide that she wants to cleanse herself of _herself_, are we?'

Tanith tried to think of an argument against this, but couldn't. So instead, she pouted petulantly and said, 'If you ever call me honey ever again, Bespoke, I'll rip your kidney out and feed it to you whole.'

Ghastly gulped.

'Actually,' Valkyrie said slowly. 'That's not a bad idea. Maybe I could find a way to manipulate Darquesse- you know, from my head. Because I'm always there, lurking in the recesses of my mind while she's in control. Sometimes, if I push really hard, I can get my own voice through- I mean, I managed to do it when Darquesse tried to make me kill my little sister, didn't I?' An excited look suddenly appeared on her face, and she babbled on, 'I just need to try really, really, _really_ hard, and then I can find a way to convince Darquesse to use that cleansing magic on herself-'

'There's no guaranteeing it will work,' Skulduggery interrupted, sounding reluctant. 'Yes, it worked on Tanith's annoying little guest, but Darquesse isn't a Remnant. She's a part of you, Valkyrie. Getting rid of her won't be that easy.'

'We can _try_, though.' Valkyrie looked at her mentor, and Tanith suppressed a smirk when she saw the puppy-dog look emerge on the younger woman's face.

A moment or two passed, and then Skulduggery said, 'I do hope you realise how little that look affects me.'

The wide-eyed, adorable look melted into a look of anger and frustration. 'Skulduggery, why are you so set against this? It's a good idea, it might work! There's no harm in trying, and... well, it's the best we've got, so far. Unless you can come up with a better alternative, I'm not seeing much of a choice here.'

'Besides, what's the worst that can happen?' Tanith asked, offering him one of her most blinding grins.

'It could fail. Darquesse could realise what you're doing and get angry, start to take it out on your loved ones. She could stop your voice from getting through to her at all in the future, find a way to block you out, and then we'd have even less options than before-'

'Okay, so yeah,_ that's_ the worst that could happen.'

'I agree with them, Skulduggery,' Erskine said. 'It will need a hell of a lot of planning, and the chances of it working are incredibly low, but Valkyrie's right- until we can think up a better one, this is the only option we have.' He sighed quietly. 'God help us.'

Tanith beamed. 'See? Right, then, the planning- let's get started on that.'

She reached for her teacup, but she didn't get the chance to lift it to her lips, because before she could do so, the door to the Grand Mage's office flew open and in burst a Cleaver, scythe out and glistening red with blood.

'Grand Mage, Prisoner 14 has escaped,' it said urgently.

There was a pause. Then, 'Who the hell is Prisoner 14?'

Tanith could have sworn that she saw the Cleaver give an impatient tap of his foot. But then, it could have just been a trick of the light. Cleavers never showed anything more than blankness in the range of emotions. 'Larrika Wise, Grand Mage,' the Cleaver said. 'Larrika Wise has escaped.'

****HL****

Larrika's hands shook as she pulled the phone out of her pocket and fumbled with the buttons, trying to type in the correct number. She failed three times before she finally managed to type in the number that she knew as the reflection's, and she tried to steady her breathing as she pressed the clumsy thing to her ear.

After three rings- two rings too many- the reflection picked up. 'Larrika,' she said with a smile in her voice. 'I take it by the fact that you're calling me that you managed to get out of the cell.'

'Yes,' Larrika hissed, wincing as a jolt of pain ran through her ribs. 'No thanks to you.'

'You didn't need me,' the reflection said, annoyingly calm as ever. 'Clearly. How did it go? How did you do it?'

'I asked the Cleaver to bring me a glass of water, and I ran out as soon as he opened the cell door,' Larrika grumbled. The reflection's laugh sounded in her ear, and she felt like reaching through the speaker and ripping that laugh away from the stupid thing. 'Listen, where are you?'

'I'm at school,' the reflection replied. 'I'll get home at three o'clock. I can meet up with you then.'

Larrika took a deep breath, then let it out in a hiss of pain. 'I don't think I'll be able to last that long,' she admitted, looking down at her free hand and cringing to see that it was covered in blood.  
>There was a pause. And then, 'Why not?'<p>

'Because I got stabbed,' Larrika snapped. 'Okay? The Cleaver managed to stab me in the back while I was running away.'

'Oh.' The reflection didn't sound pleased about this at all. 'Oh. That's... that's not very good.'

'No, it's not.' Larrika was in a very bad mood, and the reflection's flippancy about this horrid situation wasn't helping. She sighed. 'I need a doctor, Stephanie. I'm going to need medical help for this.'

'I'll help you,' the reflection informed her softly. For a second, it sounded like she cared. But then she added nonchalantly, 'When I get back from school. Wait for me at my house- dad's away at work, and mum's gone food shopping and taken Alice with her. I'll be back before them. Try not to die before I get there.' With that, it hung up, and Larrika was left alone.

With a stab wound in her back. She was alone, with a stab wound in her back, and she had to try and walk for miles and miles to get to the reflection's house- _with a freshly bleeding stab wound in her back_. She felt a little bit of her sanity seep out of her cut as she whimpered and started, once again, dragging herself down the empty back alley of Roarhaven.

This was going to be a long journey.

****HL****

Later that day, Valkyrie found herself walking side-by-side through the Sanctuary with Skulduggery, discussing important matters such as the weather, and the hideous state of the Elder robes that Ghastly, Erskine and Mist had to wear.

'They look like nun outfits that have been dipped in Skittles and vomit,' Valkyrie said with a snicker.

'They are very eccentric,' Skulduggery said in agreement, nodding. 'Do you think Madame Mist had a hand in designing them?'

Valkyrie let out a snort of amusement. 'Yeah- I bet she's a closet rainbow fan. I bet she has a multi-coloured sock collection hiding under those robes. I bet she has a different coloured pair of underwear for every day of the weak.'

'When she gets home from work, the first thing she does is take off her black veil and put on a pink one before turning on the TV and watching Balamory.'

Valkyrie had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop the loud cackle that threatened to erupt, which earned her a few strange looks from passers-by. When she got her breath back, she said in a strangled voice, 'Oh, I can just picture that. Madame Mist, watching Balamory in a pink veil. Who do you think her favourite character is? I bet it's Josie Jump.'

'She probably sings along to all the songs.'

'Do you reckon she has the Balamory song collection on CD?'

'Perhaps her house is painted yellow in a homage to her favourite character.'

They carried on like this for a while, until they bumped into Madame Mist herself- at which point, Valkyrie stopped being able to contain herself, and let loose in an eruption of laughter, which prompted Madame Mist and many others to look at her like she'd grown a second head.

Madame Mist looked at Skulduggery, eyebrow raised. 'What's so funny?'

'I've no idea, Elder Mist,' Skulduggery said casually. 'But- Elder Mist, may I ask you something? It's a very important question, and I must insist that you give me a straight answer.'

'Of course. What is it?'

'What is the story in Balamory?'

Valkyrie lost it. She nearly fell to the floor with laughter, tears streaming down her face, her ribs starting to ache. Skulduggery himself let out a few chuckles. Madame Mist merely looked at them both, clearly unimpressed, before muttering something and continued on her way through the Sanctuary.

It took a couple of minutes for Valkyrie to regain her composure, and even longer to regain her dignity, but she still couldn't keep the grin off her face. She looked at Skulduggery and couldn't help the giggle that slipped out, and then she said, 'Stop it- we can't laugh at Madame Mist, she's an Elder.'

Skulduggery looked at her, and Valkyrie was sure that if he could raise an eyebrow, he would be doing so. 'Since when have you cared about that before?'

'I haven't. I still don't. Bloody hell, that was hilarious; I couldn't breathe!' She shook her head, amused. 'I won't be able to get rid of that mental image for ages now, thanks.'

'Oh, no, trust me- neither will I.'

She grinned at him, and his skull grinned back- as it always did- and they continued on their merry way through the Sanctuary. Valkyrie didn't stop smiling once through the whole conversation; it was nice to forget about Darquesse and cleansing magic and all that drama, even if just for a short while. It certainly made a change from how things had been lately, all dark and gloomy. Erskine and Ghastly had gone off to investigate the sudden disappearance of Larrika Wise, and Tanith had gone off to practice her sword-fighting, and even though there was a hell of a lot to worry about, Valkyrie wasn't worried at all. Larrika Wise wasn't an issue, Darquesse wasn't an issue, their plan wasn't an issue. Nothing was an issue. It was just her and Skulduggery, talking and laughing and having fun, like they used to.

And it was nice.****

**A/N: Can you tell that I've been watching Cbeebies with my little cousin lately?  
>I haven't much to say today, except that I'm sorry for the long wait, and that I'd love it if you could PLEASE REVIEW. Like, literally, it doesn't even take that much effort any more. You literally just need to type something in that pretty little box below, and you'd be doing me a huuuge favour. You'd also be prompting me to give you quicker updates, and let's be honest, I could really do with an excuse to abandon my abundance of coursework and give you quicker updates.<br>Ha. 'I haven't much to say today', my arse.  
>See you next chapter!<br>~Heather. **


	46. The Failure and The Success

**Chapter 46. **

Larrika collapsed onto the reflection's bed with a pained groan. It was stood over her, tending to her injuries with hands that were obviously unskilled in the medical practice. Honestly, Larrika thought that the damned thing was doing more harm than good, but it had insisted, and she wasn't exactly in a position to resist.

After a good, long while- far, far too long, in Larrika's own opinion- the reflection finally finished. It gave the somewhat-healed wound a firm pat to signal that it was done, and Larrika hissed as the action sent a stab of sharp pain through her back. 'Was that necessary?' she demanded in a whisper. The reflection's family were all asleep, and they had to keep quiet to avoid waking them.

'That should keep you standing for a little while longer, at least,' the reflection said flatly, before taking a seat on the edge of the bed and fixing Larrika with an empty stare. 'Do you have any more injuries that I should know about?'

'No,' Larrika said, crossing her arms over her chest and resisting the urge to glare. She was still angry with the reflection, for a multitude of reasons- the most primary of which being, of course, that the stupid thing had gone and abandoned her in a Sanctuary cell. The reflection may have attempted to heal the ugly stab wound in Larrika's back, but that didn't make up for the fact that it was the reason she had it in the first place.

'You're upset,' the reflection stated knowingly after a moment. 'Is it because I didn't help you?'

'Partially.' She did glare now. 'We're supposed to be a team. I would have helped you, if you were in that situation. And now I'm hurt, and probably even less likely to be able to kill Darquesse than I was before.'

The reflection sighed, an impatient expression flickering across its face for a moment before dispersing into the unnerving emptiness again. 'I'm only preparing you for what's to come. If you want to defeat Darquesse, the Great Killer of Worlds, then you need to be able to do mundane things like break out of prison cells, too.'

'_Mundane_?' Larrika echoed incredulously. 'I nearly died! In case you're forgetting, a Cleaver _stabbed _me while I was running away!'

'Vaurien Scapegrace managed to escape from a Sanctuary cell perfectly well, and he's nothing more than a rotting pile of flesh.'

'From what I've heard, _Vaurien Scapegrace _had help,' Larrika said through gritted teeth. 'A damned _zombie _had more helpful friends than I do.'

'It didn't fall on him to save the world, though, did it?' The reflection sighed. 'Larrika, you seem to be under the impression that taking down the most powerful sorceress in the world will be an easy job. If you can't handle a simple prison break, how will you be able to kill Darquesse?'

'I can't,' Larrika said quietly. Then she cleared her throat and lifted her gaze to meet the reflection's. 'I can't,' she repeated, louder now. 'Not if I don't have help. We need to work together, both of us. And, really, there should be someone else on our side, too- someone with actual _fighting magic_.'

'I already told you-'

'Yes, yes, I know,' Larrika said with a sigh. 'You have no magic, so you're practically useless, and there's no one else who'll believe us if we reveal to them the true identity of Darquesse. Our word against the Grand Mage's and all that. I'm just saying, there has to be _someone _who can help us out. Like it or not, Stephanie, we can't do this on our own.' It felt strange, referring to the emotionless clone in front of her by the name she wished to be called. Stephanie. It didn't feel right on Larrika's lips.

The reflection was silent for a moment, and then it nodded, and Larrika let out a small breath she hadn't known she had been holding. 'I'll see what I can do- I might be able to gather some helpful resources. For now, though, you are to train as best you can. I want Darquesse dead as soon as possible.'

'Well, I'm going to need a hell of a lot of training,' Larrika said with a frown. 'Darquesse is like some sort of god compared to me. Stephanie, I really don't think I can-'

'Nonsense. Of course you can do it. You just need to _train _yourself. Now, get to it, and I'll see if I can find someone to get on our team.' The reflection offered a vaguely excited smile. 'I can't wait to see how this turns out.'

And that was that. The reflection turned and left the room, leaving Larrika to contemplate her own sanity for agreeing to this. It was suicide, dammit, and surely the reflection knew that. It had to, whether it was insane or not. And it _was _insane. It had to be- after all, what mentally sound person would willingly go for this idea?

But then... was the reflection a person? It was a frustrating thought process, and one that Larrika had gone through multiple times before, only to land at a dead-end conclusion that the reflection was just plain weird.

There was only one thing, at the end of it all, that Larrika knew for certain: she hated the reflection.

****HL** **

It had been three days since they had come up with the plan to purge Valkyrie of Darquesse using the same power she'd used to get rid of Tanith's remnant. Three days, and all three of them had passed without a single speck of progress being made.

'How many times do I have to tell you?' Valkyrie asked frustratedly. 'I can only do it when I'm Darquesse, and there's absolutely zero chance that Darquesse is going to use some weird evil-purging power on _herself_!'

'Then we find a way,' Erskine said stubbornly. 'This is the best plan we have for the time being. Until we can come up with a better one, we're sticking with it. Now, try again- and remember to mimic the exact movements that you made when you did this to Tanith.'

Valkyrie sighed, and stuck her hand out. 'This is literally all I did,' she muttered. 'There's nothing else to it. I just did this, and used some weird type of magic that, let's face it, we're never going to be able to figure out, and then the remnant was gone and me and Tanith both collapsed.' She stopped suddenly, a realisation dawning on her face and a small spark lighting in her mind. 'Wait a second- what if... I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but what if, in healing Tanith, Darquesse removed some of her own evil, too? And that's why I collapsed and went back to normal straight after? It sounds impossible, but... what if?'

Erskine paused, like he was considering it, then frowned. 'I've heard crazier things,' he said slowly, after a moment. 'But I don't understand. Even after that, you still turned into Darquesse, so even if that's what did happen, it can't have happened to any significant extremity.'

'Still, though.' She smiled. 'What if removing the evil in others removes the evil in myself? I could become, like, the nicest person in the world, just by helping others.'

'I wouldn't go that far.' Erskine chuckled. 'But I do see your point. There's nothing to prove it, though- unless you fancy turning into Darquesse and getting a remnant out of someone's soul. Which, I will point out, would be impossible- all the other remnants in the world are still locked in Anton Shudder's hotel.'

Valkyrie sighed, shrugging. 'Just a thought. Listen, Erskine... I don't think this is going to work, not like we wanted to. I mean, once I become Darquesse, I lose myself and all my inhibitions. I don't think straight- the only thing on my mind is chaos and death and destruction. The only time I've managed to overcome that was when Darquesse nearly killed my little sister, and I don't want to ever have to be in a situation like that again.' She looked away, running a hand through her hair. 'I just... I'm not optimistic about this. Like, at all.'

'You don't have to be,' Erskine said, an understanding smile- or was that a grimace?- on his face. 'All you have to do is try it, like you've been doing for the past three days. You know it's our best option.'

Her lips quirked up in a half-smirk. 'I'm starting to regret suggesting the idea in the first place,' she murmured jokingly.

Erskine grinned, then nodded seriously and said, 'Now, let's try again.'

****HL****

It didn't take Stephanie long to find the Leech. She was where the man had promised she would be, hiding out in a dark alleyway. Sabine, he had said her name was, and she was a Leech. Not an actual leech, of course- that would just be silly. It was her power. The power to absorb other people's magic and use it for herself, or to transfer it to other people. Useful, if only for a short period of time. It was a good power, Stephanie thought. Useful for her and Larrika's situation. All she needed to do was convince this Sabine woman to join them...

'No,' Sabine said as soon as she saw Stephanie approaching.

The reflection stopped short and blinked, frowning. 'Excuse me?'

'I said no,' Sabine repeated, stepping out of the shadows and staring darkly at Stephanie. 'Whatever it is that you're going to ask me to do, my answer is no.'

'You might change your mind when you hear my proposition,' Stephanie said, refusing to be defeated so early. It may not have taken her long to find the Leech herself, but seeking out the right information, and the right people to give her that information, had taken up her whole day- she'd had to give her parents some silly excuse about studying and a missing phone just to ease their suspicions.

'I doubt it,' Sabine said with a snort. 'Look, I thought I'd made it clear to you all that I'm done with all of this. I don't want to be a part of any more stupid plans.'

'Even if those plans will help save the world?'

Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. 'Especially if those plans will help save the world,' she said with a little shudder. 'I've been a part of something like that before, and I have no intention of putting myself at risk like that ever again.'

'All I need is your power, Sabine,' Stephanie said, growing frustrated. 'You don't even have to be there when we do what we do. All you have to do is lend me your power for- what is it, ninety hours that it lasts for? Yeah, ninety hours. Just lend me your power, then I'll do what I need to do, and then in ninety hours' time, your powers will be returned to you, and you won't have had to lift a finger. You would have saved the world without even moving.'

Sabine hesitated this time. 'How do I know I can trust you?' she asked, suspicion still in her voice. 'The last person I trusted betrayed me and left me to die. If I hadn't escaped, I _would _have died. How do I know you're any different?'

'I'm trying to save the world here, Sabine,' Stephanie said with a sigh. 'You'll just have to take my word for it.'

'Save the world how?' Sabine sounded curious. 'This doesn't have anything to do with Darquesse, does it?'

'It may,' Stephanie replied coolly.

A rueful smile flickered on Sabine's face, her expression knowing. 'The last person I helped, the one who betrayed me, was trying to do the opposite of what you're doing. She was trying to help Darquesse. Granted, she was possessed by a remnant at the time, but still, it'd be nice to see her plans go downhill... ah, we're getting off the subject.' She paused, then nodded slowly. 'Okay, yeah. I suppose it's a fair deal- as long as you keep my name out of it, if anyone asks you how you did it. I lend you my powers, you kill Darquesse, and then we never speak to each other again. Right?'

'Right.' Stephanie smiled, and extended her hand for Sabine to shake. The other woman took it without hesitation, and as soon as their skin made contact, Stephanie felt herself being filled with a power she had never felt before. It was amazing, to feel the magic starting to flow through her. Truth be told, she'd always been slightly envious of the power of other sorcerers. All that power at their fingertips. And now... now it was _her _fingertips that people should be worried about.

Sabine pulled her hand away and nodded. 'That should work. You're now able to take in other people's powers, and give this one out to other people. Bear in mind that you only have ninety hours to do whatever the hell you're planning on doing.' She took a step back, letting the shadows consume her once more. Stephanie stood there for another second, pleased with the transaction, and only turned to walk away when the whispered '_Good luck_,' from Sabine reached her ears. _'You'll be needing it.' _

****HL** **

Valkyrie gasped as she felt the stab of pain in her head. It wasn't the worst pain she'd ever felt, but it was enough to make her jerk backwards and press a hand to the back of her skull, face scrunched up in confusion.

'What is it?' Erskine demanded immediately, his eyes widening.

'I... I don't know.' Valkyrie shook her head as the pain slowly receded, leaving her with just a dull throb in her head that vanished after a couple of moments. 'I... I was doing the action, and then I just felt this weird pain in my head.' She felt her expression shift from confused to hopeful as she looked at Erskine. 'Do you think...?'

'There's no way to be sure,' he said, but he sounded excited at the prospect of her purifying attempts finally succeeding.

'Well, how _can _we be sure?' she asked. 'I'm not exactly going to-' _Whatever you're trying to do, stop it, before I stop it for you_. The voice sounded in her head so suddenly that it made her jump, which visibly worried Erskine. She was vaguely aware of Erskine asking her what was wrong, if she was okay, if she was in pain. All she could focus on was that voice, that incessant voice, and the fact that it hadn't worked. If anything, it had probably only made Darquesse angrier, more violent, more desperate to emerge again.

'It didn't work,' she said flatly after a moment.

Erskine frowned, clearly confused. 'What do you mean? How do you know?'

Valkyrie's head swivelled in his direction. 'Because she just told me,' she snapped. 'I knew this was a bad idea.'

'She... she _told _you? Like, in your head?' When Valkyrie nodded, Erskine let out a long breath. 'I... huh. What exactly did she say?'

'She said, _whatever you're trying to do, stop it, before I stop it for you.' _Valkyrie sighed and pressed a hand to her temple. 'And she definitely didn't sound happy.'

'To be fair, I wouldn't expect her to anyway,' Erskine said lightly, before echoing her sigh and letting his head fall into his hands. 'What do we do now?'

'We could carry on with this,' Valkyrie said slowly. 'But I have a feeling that that would be a slightly idiotic thing to do. We could tell the others about what just happened. We could try to think of a new plan. We could-'

'Yeah, let's stop thinking up the prospects,' Erskine interrupted in a tired voice. All of a sudden, he scowled, slamming his hand against the wall. 'I was so sure that this was the way to go,' he said frustratedly. 'I really thought we were onto something with this.'

'So was I, until I realised we weren't.' Valkyrie put a comforting hand on his shoulder. 'Let's go back to the others,' she said gently. 'We can come up with something else, figure something out.'

'Right.' Erskine nodded, and moved towards the door. 'Right.'

It had been a long day, for both of them- a day filled with training, false hope and bitter disappointment. In all honesty, Valkyrie- despite being the one to come up with the idea in the first place- had realised after exactly four attempts that their little plan wasn't going to work out. There were too many faults, too many risks. Honestly- trusting Darquesse to be foolish enough to use her own power against herself? A silly mistake, born out of their hope and eagerness. A day wasted, really. But no matter.

They could always try something new tomorrow, after all.

****HL****

Larrika felt a slow smile spread across her face as the sorcerer dropped to the ground. Immediately, she felt the power surging through her, filling her to the brim with newfound confidence and a strength that she had been lacking for so long. She let out a laugh as she demonstrated her new magic, letting a fireball fly into the wall opposite her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the reflection watching her with a satisfied expression, and turned to it with a grin. 'Why don't you join me?' she asked. 'Using magic- it's more fun than I'd ever thought it would be. And I know that you kept some of the power for yourself.' She gestured to the dozen-or-so sorcerers that were lying unconscious on the floor. 'You have plenty of options to choose from, too. We can make ourselves as powerful as we want with these powers- why waste them?'

The reflection smiled and slowly stood up. 'Those sorcerers are all for you, Larrika. I plan on getting my power from... other sources.' She looked around at the bodies on the floor, and disdain curled her lip. 'Better sources.'

Larrika frowned, then shrugged. 'More for me, I suppose.' She crouched down beside one of the sorcerers that they had managed to capture and reached her hand towards him- she realised, at the last second, that he was awake, and it made her pause.

He whimpered at the sight of her, his face contorted in terror. 'Please,' he pleaded in a strangled voice. 'Please, don't take my magic away from me- it's all I have. Please.'

'It's only temporarily,' she murmured comfortingly. 'You'll have them back soon. For now, though, you're going to help me save the world.' She smiled at the man, before letting her hand rest on his face. He moaned as she drained him of his power, and she grinned as she felt is rush through her and merge with all the other magic she'd absorbed. 'This,' she said as she stood up, turning to face the reflection once again. 'Is the best idea you've ever had.'

The reflection didn't smile this time, observing her with a cold expression. 'Careful,' she said simply.

Larrika frowned. 'Excuse me?'

'I told you to be careful. It's obvious that this power is making you arrogant, I can see it in the way you move, speak, stand. There's nothing wrong with confidence, Larrika- it can even be a good thing. But arrogance will make you foolish. Just make sure you remember who it is that you're going up against when you're strong enough. Make sure you remember that, if you lose focus for just a second in this fight, Darquesse will snap you like a twig without a second's thought.'

Larrika gulped at the thought. Her power-high was slowly fading away, and she nodded. 'I'll remember,' she said.

She waited until the reflection had resumed her satisfied expression and slowly walked out of the room, for reasons that she hadn't bothered to state, before Larrika turned around and went back to her work.

_Arrogant, _the reflection had called her. _Foolish_. Larrika's eyes flashed in anger as she stole yet another sorcerer's power. She'd show the reflection who was the foolish one. Yes, she would show her- right after she'd showed Darquesse.

Larrika smiled to herself. The body in front of her twitched. She looked down at it with a raised eyebrow, and, with a slight gesture, took his air supply away from him. She needed practice at killing, after all. She watched as his body started to shake and write and flail around, until it eventually stilled, and she gently patted his dead body with her foot before walking away and moving onto the next sorcerer.

Her power was good, she'd decided.

**A/N: Late update, blame exams. **_**Cough, and Tumblr, cough**_**.  
>I hope you liked this one, and will forgive me for delaying it for so long. Writer's block has been attacking, for this story in particular, but once I sat myself down and forced myself to write, it went away pretty quickly. And thus, a new chapter was born.<br>Forgive any and all mistakes, for I am beta-less and lazy. Forgive any inconsistencies, for I am beta-less and **_**really **_**lazy.**

**There are only two or three chapters left of this story, including an epilogue, which I've already got written and ready. Sob. So I promise I'll try to update fairly quickly from now on, but don't be expecting any miracles. See you next chapter, all reviews are appreciated and taken on-board!**

**-Heather. **


	47. Lights, Cameras, Action

**Chapter 47.**

When Valkyrie awoke the next morning, she felt strangely light, and it took her a good few minutes to actually realise why that was. When she did, her eyes widened and her toothbrush dropped right out of her mouth, and she had to stop herself from spraying foamy, minty spittle all over her wall. She quickly emptied her mouth into the sink, then looked up, her mouth forming an '_o_' shape before slowly splitting into a delighted grin.

'I didn't have any nightmares,' she murmured to herself, followed by a disbelieving laugh. 'She didn't give me any nightmares. She- Blade!' She ran over to the wall by her bed and started banging her fist against it excitedly. 'Blade! Wake up!'

She heard a loud groan come from the other side of the wall, and then she realised that it would probably be a better idea to do this through his door. She ran around and started knocking on his door. 'Get out of there, you lazy ass son of a-' She was interrupted when his door opened slowly, to reveal him stood there, glaring darkly. She smiled, regardless, and said, 'Guess what?'

'_What?_' he hissed. He clearly didn't share her jolly mood- probably because he'd been awoken from his slumber. His hair was mussed up beyond belief, and he was shirtless, and on any other day, Valkyrie would have been distracted by this little fact. Now, though, she was too damn excited about the recent development to care.

She rolled her eyes at him. 'Oh, shut up, I would have woken you up anyway. Come on. Guess what?'

He sighed and looked away. 'Sorry,' he mumbled. 'What is it?'

'I didn't have any nightmares last night!' She beamed when his expression lightened and he looked up at her in a mixture of confusion and relief. 'Darquesse didn't give me any nightmares!'

'That... that's great!' He grinned, though he still looked confused. 'Why?'

'Well, as much as I'd _like_ to believe that she's decided to take pity and give me a good night's sleep, I don't think that's the reason,' Valkyrie said dryly. 'I don't think she _could_. Give me the nightmares, I mean. Remember how we were trying to practice getting rid of her yesterday?'

Blade nodded slowly. 'And you thought for a minute that it had worked, and then she spoke to you, told you to stop trying. I don't see how-' Realisation dawned on his face then. 'You think it really _did_ work? Made her weaker or something?'

'That's exactly what I think,' Valkyrie said excitedly. 'Do you know what this means? It means I might actually have a chance of getting rid of her!'

'This is great!' Blade said, but Valkyrie couldn't miss the underlying hint of worry in his voice.

She sighed. 'But...?'

'But... well, you can't forget what she said to you yesterday, Val,' he said. 'What was it? _Stop it, before I stop it for you_? What if she manages to get out and she... I don't know, punishes you for trying to get rid of her?'

'She won't be able to punish me if we weaken her enough.' A smug smile rose on Valkyrie's face. 'Let's not find reasons to spoil this, okay? We're onto something. Now, you wake the others up- I need to go tell Erskine.' She patted him on the shoulder and turned to go, only to be stopped by the sound of him calling after her. She spun on her heel and looked at him expectantly. 'Yes?'

He hesitated, then offered a reluctant smile and said, 'Be careful when you're practicing, okay?'

'Aren't I always?' She laughed. Then she paused, and cocked her head to the side, 'Don't answer that.'

****HL** **

'How many sorcerers is that now?' Larrika asked, slightly breathless as she turned around to look at the reflection.

It shrugged passively, not even looking up from its mobile phone. 'Lost count.'

Larrika sighed. So far, they'd used up sixteen of their ninety hours of power, and thirteen of those hours had been spent going around, gathering and stealing the magic from any sorcerers they came across in the wonderful city of Dublin. Larrika had only gotten three hours sleep the previous night, but she didn't mind. She'd survived on less, after some particularly disturbing visions.

The reflection was still texting. She had been for- what, ten minutes now? Must be an interesting conversation. Larrika had attempted to peek over the reflection's shoulder, to see who it was having this interesting conversation with and what exactly they were talking about, but the reflection had merely shifted, blocking the screen from Larrika's view. Annoying.

'So... am I powerful enough to face Darquesse yet?' she pressed, wishing that the damn thing would just look up from the phone screen for at least a moment.

The reflection merely shrugged again. 'Depends.'

Larrika frowned. 'On what?'

Finally, finally, the reflection looked up, an eyebrow raised and a nonchalant look on its face. 'On a lot of things,' it said slowly. 'Are you ready to kill a twenty-year-old girl? Are you ready to face down a person with god-like powers in combat? Are you ready to fight, for the first time in your life? Are you ready to risk your life to save the world?'

Larrika hesitated. Then she said, 'I guess?'

'Are you sure about that?' The reflection moved itself into a sitting position, keeping her cold stare on Larrika the whole time. It would be unnerving, if Larrika didn't know that she could use her newfound magic to blast the reflection into oblivion, if she so wished.

It was Larrika's turn to shrug, lifting her head slightly higher in the air and fixing the reflection with a steely gaze. 'As sure as I've ever been. I've been absorbing people's powers non-stop for thirteen hours, Stephanie. I have more magic inside me than you could imagine- Elemental, Adept, even some Necromancy. I can take anyone on when I'm like this.'

'Tell me something,' the reflection said. 'Have you ever even met Darquesse? Ever faced her before? In case it's escaped your notice, she's capable of _laying waste to this planet and everyone on it_. You think that just because you have powers now that you're anywhere near as powerful as she is? She's been against sorcerers before, a whole room of them, roughly the same amount as you've absorbed so far. She could've destroyed them all in minutes, and the only reason she didn't is because she wanted to take her time with their deaths.'

Larrika felt herself shrink with every word. Perhaps she _had _underestimated just how strong Darquesse was. Perhaps she did need a little more power.

The reflection continued, 'And it's not just magic that you're going to need. You're going to need training, combat training. I have just a couple of hours to train you in combat. _You. _In _combat_. Are you even aware of the pressure on my shoulders? Don't make it worse for me.'

The... the pressure on the _reflection's _shoulders? Larrika couldn't believe what she was hearing. She's the one who'd been assigned the almost impossible mission of single-handedly getting rid of Darquesse, not the reflection. She was the one who'd been arrested and stabbed and put in countless amounts of danger for this task. To hear the reflection's little _woe is me _speech had her practically seething. She snapped, 'If this is so hard for you, why are you even bothering at all? Why not give up? You're just a reflection- there's nothing in this world that's for you. Nothing that was meant for you, anyway. Why should you care if it's all coming to an end? You're not even supposed to _feel_, damn it-'

'_Don't_.' The reflection's voice was harsh and cold and sharp, its glare withering and its mouth set in a hard line. '_Don't _tell me that I'm not supposed to feel anything. I'm tired of hearing people tell me that. All my life, people have been telling me that. I do feel. I feel everything. I feel love for my family- _my _family- and I feel hatred for Valkyrie, and I feel the pressure of this mission and our time limit, and I feel-'

'Oh, give it a rest,' Larrika said harshly. 'Don't act like you're the victim here.'

'I'm not.' The- admittedly frightening anger had vanished from the reflection's voice, and it looked at Larrika with that empty expression again. Somehow, it was more unnerving than the fury it had just displayed, and Larrika had to look away. She reminded herself that this was an exact replica of Valkyrie Cain, of Darquesse, and could look just as frightening as the girl could if it wanted. 'You should start your combat training now. It's highly unlikely that you're going to become anywhere near good in a matter of hours, but we'll do the best we can.' It paused. 'Just pretend you're hitting me, if it helps. I'm sure it will. You look angry with me.' The reflection's eyes travelled downwards to its phone again, and Larrika let out a sigh. She only snapped into action when she heard the reflection bark, 'Hop to it.'

****HL****

'This is great news,' Erskine said with a smile. He looked between Valkyrie, Skulduggery, Ghastly and Tanith, took in the mixed expressions on their faces, and the smile dimmed a little. 'Isn't it?'

'I thought it was,' Valkyrie said with a shrug, shooting a look at the others. 'Apparently that opinion isn't shared by some of you.'

Ghastly hesitated. 'I'm not saying it's a bad thing- it's good, actually. It means we can weaken Darquesse. But... Valkyrie, what if you're wrong?'

She blinked. 'Wrong?'

'Maybe Darquesse just wants you to think that it worked,' he continued. 'Cut off the nightmares for one night to make you think that you had the upper hand, so that we'd all start to underestimate her.'

'Exactly,' Skulduggery said with a nod, and Valkyrie was sure he'd only spoke up because he'd seen her open her mouth to reply. 'And besides, we have to keep in mind the pain you felt when it apparently did work, and the threat that Darquesse made right after.'

'But this is the best opportunity we've had- well, ever,' Tanith argued. 'My bet is that Darquesse is scared. Scared of being defeated. That's what it sounded like, from what she said to Valkyrie.'

'True.' Ghastly sighed. 'Is there really any way of knowing?'

'Not really,' Valkyrie said. 'But, like I said before, I think this is a good thing. Besides, Darquesse is in _my _thoughts- don't you think I'd be aware if she was lying to me?'

'Following that train of thought, you'd also be aware if she was weakened,' Skulduggery reminded her. 'I think we've established by now that Darquesse is perfectly capable of hiding some thoughts from you. She may be in your head, Valkyrie, she may actually be _you_, but she acts like a separate entity in her own right.'

Erskine sighed and cast his eyes skyward. 'Why does this have to be so complicated?' he asked no-one in particular.

'Hell if I know,' Tanith muttered. 'It'd be so much easier if... well, if Darquesse was an actual living organism, and wasn't, you know, Val.'

'What a nice world that would be,' Valkyrie agreed wistfully. 'Anyway, I think that, since I'm probably the only one who'll be affected by it, this should be my choice. And I think that we should continue with our original plan, to use the purifying magic to get rid of Darquesse.'

Erskine groaned and let his head fall forwards onto his desk. 'So many flaws...'

She shot him a nasty look. 'Well, let me know when you come up with a better plan, genius,' she retorted. Then she looked around at them all and said, 'Okay?'

'Okay,' Tanith said.

'This is either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid,' Skulduggery said with a light shrug. 'But it's your stupid, brave decision to make. Then I can't be held accountable if anyone ends up dead after this.'

Valkyrie smiled brightly. 'Bravery and stupidity- it's remarkable how often those two traits coincide.'

Ghastly opened his mouth, then stopped and frowned. 'Did you just quote Pirates of the Caribbean?'

She hesitated. 'It's a good film. There is nothing wrong with quoting it,' she mumbled, crossing her arms.

'But those aren't even the traits that go with the quote...'

Valkyrie frowned. 'My apologies if I didn't memorize the film to your liking, Ghastly.'

'I myself prefer to come up with original material,' Skulduggery said, his voice smooth as ever but with a teasing lilt. 'But not everyone is as brilliant as I am, of course.'

'Back to the matter at hand,' Erskine said, his serious tone clashing with the amused smile on his face. 'I vote that we carry on, but if there's even the slightest hint of something going wrong, or of Valkyrie or anyone else getting hurt, we stop immediately.'

'Fair enough,' Valkyrie conceded.

'I agree with that,' Ghastly said, and then the matter was settled. They were going to go through with it.

'Are you sure you want to risk it, Valkyrie?' Skulduggery asked after a hesitation. 'Because, let's be honest, there's a lot to risk.'

'Not really,' she said, placing a contemplative look on her face. 'Just my welfare, as well as the welfare of everyone around me, and everyone I've ever loved, and basically of the whole world.' She finished with a smirk, but it quickly dropped when she heard the voice in her head.

_This is your second warning, Valkyrie. Stop what you're doing. If you even attempt to get rid of me again, I will not be merciful. And I can assure you that, even if you succeed, I will still be strong enough at that time to break out of this mind and kill everyone you've ever met. _The voice, _her_ voice, spoke in its usual soft and velvety tones, but this time with an edge. And Valkyrie realised that Darquesse really _was_ scared- terrified, even. Why else would she be so frantic in her efforts to stop them? She looked around, realised that everyone was staring at her- her hand was pressed to her head, and she probably had a less-than-flattering expression of alarm on her face.

'She's warning me again,' she said simply.

'What did she say?' Tanith asked worriedly.

'Oh, you know- same old, same old.' Valkyrie waved a hand dismissively, forcing a nonchalant smile onto her face. 'Stop it before I kill everyone you've ever met, I will not be merciful, blah, blah, blah.'

'Well, then, we definitely can't go through with it,' Skulduggery stated, his voice firm.

Valkyrie frowned at him. 'Don't say that,' she said, sounding suitably disheartened. 'I was just getting excited about it.'

'No.'

'Oh, come on,' she said with a groan. 'Haven't we just been through this? The benefits of this plan are greater than the risks. We have to do it, to weaken Darquesse at the very least. Who cares if it pisses her off? There's a good chance she'll be too weak by then to do anything about it.' _Or not._ The voice had just said otherwise, after all. But they didn't need to know that.

'This is _too_ risky, Valkyrie,' Skulduggery pressed, sounding more urgent now. 'We can't afford to let anyone get hurt based on a theory, especially not you. If we just take more time-'

'We don't have time, Skulduggery!' she interrupted, exasperated. 'With every second that passes, I feel her growing stronger, threatening to take over from the back of my mind. She thinks it's nearly time for her to emerge permanently, and she's going to stop at nothing to make that happen. We don't have any time to waste, Skulduggery. This is our best plan, and it's our quickest plan, and if we don't go through with it, the entire world is going to end up destroyed.' Much to her chagrin, her voice cracked at the last word, and she looked away with her mouth set in a hard line. 'We have to try. You know we do. And besides- when has risky ever been a problem for people like us?'

There was silence for a few moments, as the words sunk into the minds of the people in the room. They had to realise, Valkyrie thought desperately. They had to realise that she was right. Finally, just as she was beginning to think that she'd have to make another speech, Tanith spoke up, and Valkyrie let out a breath of relief.

'Agreed,' she said. Her voice was quiet, but her face was firm and her gaze was strong as she looked at Skulduggery, Erskine and Ghastly. 'Sorry, Skul. But she's right.'

Ghastly nodded, then shot Skulduggery an apologetic look. The skeleton detective remained silent, but made a point of lowering his hat over his eyes, and Valkyrie just knew that she was going to get a talking-to later.

'Then it's settled,' Erskine said hesitantly. 'We're going to do it. Valkyrie, are you... are you sure about this?'

'Of course I'm sure. Would I have just made that heart-warming speech if I wasn't sure?' She rolled her eyes. 'What could go wrong?'

The three of them groaned, and Valkyrie laughed.

****HL****

'Remind me again why you've gathered so many people around?' Valkyrie asked dryly, feeling only a little self-conscious as she looked at the crowd of friends and Cleavers that had been formed in a circle around her.

'So we can restrain you if this all falls to hell and Darquesse manages to get out,' Erskine replied. She didn't mention that Darquesse would probably just toss them all aside with a swipe of her finger. It didn't seem appropriate.

So this was it. If their plan worked, this was the moment when Valkyrie would be able to say goodbye to her psychopathic alter-ego for good. If it didn't, this would probably be the moment that Darquesse took over her mind completely. Valkyrie inhaled sharply and banished that thought from her mind; of course this would work. She'd managed to make it work last time, hadn't she? If only just a little bit... oh, God, what if she'd overestimated her own ability? What if all she managed to do was anger Darquesse? _Remain optimistic, Val, _she told herself. _Think of rainbows and puppies and unicorns... and death... and the destruction of the human race..._

Her eyes flickered to Skulduggery, and she didn't smile. He tilted his head towards her, a gesture of respect and reassurance. She recognized it. That gesture was usually accompanied by him saying, in that wonderful voice of his, '_Stop worrying- worrying is for idiots. You'll do fine, Valkyrie._' She nodded ever so slightly, her mouth twisting into a grimace that she supposed was her attempt at a smile, before shifting her gaze over to Blade. His smile was actually succeeding, that cute lopsided grin that he had, but still, she couldn't return it. She simply stared at him, her eyes wide and her expression undoubtedly one of panic, and he mouthed to her, '_Don't worry_.'

'_I love you_,' she mouthed back, because she simply couldn't think of anything else.

He nodded, and his smile turned just a little bit sad. '_I love you, too_.'

Hades was offering her a smile, and it wasn't the type of smile that she was accustomed to seeing on his face. Unlike the others, he actually spoke aloud, rather than simply mouthing words to her. 'Good luck, Val,' he called out, and she even managed to crack a smile at him.

Tanith hesitated, before offering her a thumbs-up and a grin, and Valkyrie was relieved that there were two people, at least, who didn't look like they were attending a funeral. As soon as her eyes passed over to Ghastly, however, Valkyrie noticed that Tanith's hand dropped as if it'd been burned, and her head turned down to the ground. Ghastly offered her a reassuring smile. Good old Ghastly.

Maddox, Hazel and Willow all looked forlorn. The three of them had been against the idea- too many things could go wrong, they'd pointed out, and could they really afford to make mistakes at this point? Maddox and Hazel were holding each other's hands, standing as close together as possible, and Willow was biting her nails with a wide-eyed expression. Valkyrie nodded at each of them, then took another deep breath and turned to Erskine. 'Okay. I'm ready.'

He nodded, taking a step forward and saying, 'If, at any point, you feel like Darquesse is about to take over or it isn't working the way we wanted it to, I want you to stop immediately. Okay?'

'Sure,' she said with fake nonchalance, and he nodded again before stepping back and gesturing for her to continue.

And so she did. She didn't bother to extend her arm, this time- she figured that'd just look stupid. All she had to do, she'd learned, was close her eyes, and focus the magic on her inner being. It was easier said than done, but it wasn't like she could turn round to all these people and tell them that, sorry, she couldn't be bothered to try. Mentally, she pictured the darkness inside of her, writhing and squirming and snaking its way through her core, and then pictured that darkness being flooded with light. _This'll work, right? _she thought. A frown worked its way onto her face as she felt the magic rushing through her, searching desperately for something to be used on now that she'd called upon it. And then she felt something else, like a little piece inside of her snapping, accompanied by a quick pang of pain in her head. It happened so fast that a small part of her doubted it'd even happened, but the hopeful, optimistic part of her inwardly rejoiced.

_This isn't going to work. _It was the voice, the voice that had been plaguing her for far too long now. _All you're doing is making things worse for everyone_. It sounded angry, and that was probably a good thing. _Did you honestly think this pathetic little plan of yours would succeed? Accessing my magic and using it against me? Did you? _Valkyrie was making a conscious effort to ignore the voice. God, it was annoying. She'd never realised it before, probably because she was too busy being terrified of the fact that it existed, but it really was. Why hadn't she tried to put a stop to it sooner? It would have saved her a lot of headaches- literally. Determination was filling Valkyrie now, and she pushed her magic just that little bit harder, and felt the pain again. _You're going to regret this. Valkyrie, stop it. Stop it now. _It was getting desperate. _I promise you, I won't hurt our loved ones if you just stop it. Stop it. STOP IT._

Working. It was working. She felt that frown on her face slowly transform into a delighted smile, and her whole body swayed. The lightness was flooding through her, sneaking through all those dark corners in her mind, poking around and removing the darkness bit by bit. It was working. It was working. It was- Valkyrie inhaled sharply as the pain occurred again- working. Slowly, ever so slowly, she felt the darkness lifting from her, easing itself out of her mind, the voice just a faint echo in her subconscious, and then-

And then Valkyrie opened her eyes, and her smile fell. She was angry, all of a sudden- surprisingly and overwhelmingly angry. It had worked, she was sure of it, but she didn't feel as happy about that as she should have. She looked around at the crowd of people that had been gathered, at their expectant faces, and she knew that they were holding their breaths for the moment when she revealed to them that it had worked. And she didn't like to disappoint.

'It worked,' she said, her voice flat, steely. This should have been a cause for celebration, a reason to smile and jump around and exchange hugs with people, but instead, she wanted to summon her shadows and... tear them all apart.

She took in a deep breath. Okay, probably not the best thoughts to be having. Had something gone wrong? Had she... strengthened the voice in her mind? No, she couldn't have. It had always been there, buzzing and whispering gently in her mind, constantly noticed but constantly ignored. It was definitely gone. She'd eradicated Darquesse completely, she was sure of that. She was sure of it.

But... a thought hit her. What if she hadn't gotten rid of Darquesse? What if... what if she'd _merged _herself with Darquesse, taken those dark thoughts and all of that power for herself and abandoned the label of her true name? Become one with her crazy alter-ego? But... huh. Weird. She didn't have any psychopathic urges, no part of her telling her that, hey, wouldn't it be a good idea to go destroy the world right now? Nothing. All she felt was her normal self, only... angrier. And more powerful. Oh, yes, definitely more powerful. She could just feel it, the delicious magic, bubbling at her fingertips.

She looked around at them again, realised that they were looking at her curiously. She hadn't joined in with the small celebrations. She plastered a smile on her face and repeated, 'It worked.'

And she kept that smile when she was attacked with hugs and various other forms of praise and affection, tried not to grimace or squirm or tear anyone's heads off when they clapped her on the back and told her well done for saving the world again. She just smiled that empty smile, and when it came to Skulduggery approaching her, she made sure to smile extra wide. If anyone would notice the change in her, he would. And she didn't want _anyone _to notice. He stepped up to her and offered a quiet congratulations, and she just knew that he'd figured it out. He definitely knew something was up, at least. Considering his face was just a blank, empty skull, she could read him pretty well. She gave him a look that said, _Not now_, and he started to say something, but then there was the sound of a sizzle and a scream, and Valkyrie whirled to see that Larrika Wise stood there with the reflection, both wearing matching smirks.

Valkyrie's eyes narrowed. Keep calm, stay calm, remain calm. You can kill anyone you want to, after all. These two are no threat. She looked at the pile of ash that had once been a cleaver on the floor, incinerated to dust by... what? Larrika was a Seer- she wasn't an Elemental, she wasn't an Adept, she wasn't anything. The only power she possessed was the power to see into the future. And the reflection didn't even have any _magic_- it was just a lifeless _thing_, a little puppet playing out the parts of Valkyrie's life that she never could. And yet it could only have been one of them.

Larrika lifted her newly-bubbling hands at the same time as the reflection gathered a fireball, and Valkyrie's eyes went from being narrow to being wide. It was impossible. They shouldn't have access to that kind of magic- especially not the reflection. What the hell was going on?

Unfortunately, she never got the time to answer that question- the jet of light that Larrika had summoned hit her square in the chest, and the only thing she could do was scream as her bones turned to dust and she fell to the ground.

Dead.

**A/N: Dun dun dun... I hate to leave you on a cliffhanger, but then, no, I really don't. I know I always say this, but I plan on updating soon (well, if you define soon as 'definitely within the next two months') and putting an end to the misery that this chapter will undoubtedly have caused. No, this isn't the end to the story- there are another two or maybe three chapters left, including the epilogue. Huh. Have I said that before? Whatever. Hope you enjoyed this one. Please leave a review and thank you if you have already. See you next chapter!  
>~Heather. <strong>


	48. Finalé

**Chapter 48**

There was a scream, from somewhere within the crowd. There were a few, actually. Skulduggery barely heard them. All he could see was the pile of dust on the floor; the pile of dust that had been Valkyrie Cain. His partner, his best friend, the one person he'd sacrifice the world for. Dead. Dust. Nothing.

The rage was quick to fill the shocked emptiness, and he turned to Larrika Wise with a snarl behind his skull. He started striding towards her, the girl with the blonde hair and the grinning face, jumping and whooping because, _hooray_, she'd managed to kill Valkyrie Cain. All on her own. Like a big girl. Skulduggery clicked a flame into his palm and threw it towards her. He'd decided he would kill her slowly, make it last. He could at least get some enjoyment out of it before she drew her final breaths, just as his Valkyrie had drawn hers.

The flame caught Larrika in the shoulder, and she stopped celebrating and screamed, her arms flailing and her hair starting to singe off. The reflection, who had previously been smiling, rolled her eyes and used her mysterious new powers to gather water and douse out the flames.

Larrika stopped screaming and turned, slowly, to glare at Skulduggery. 'I just saved the world,' she spat, although the sound came out as more of a croak. She rubbed at her throat, looking annoyed. 'I think I deserve a little more reward than that.'

Out of the corner of his eye, Skulduggery noticed the people gathering, horrified, around Valkyrie's ashes. A few had started to cry, but most were just staring in shock, still quite unable to process what exactly had just happened.

Skulduggery, however, had long since processed it. Processed that she was dead, and processed that Larrika would soon be, too. That would be some small comfort, a little piece of distraction to keep him from having to mourn the one person who was worth mourning. The one person who had mattered so completely in his life.

'You just killed her,' he heard Blade say from behind him, surprise clear in his voice. 'You... you didn't even give her a chance. You just... _killed _her.'

Skulduggery started walking towards Larrika, where she stood with the reflection, and he was far too satisfied to see the glint of fear that came to her eye when she noticed. At least the girl wasn't a complete idiot, then. She recognised danger when she saw it. Maybe he'd even let her die with some dignity. But then... she hadn't allowed Valkyrie that chance, so why should she have it?

'She was innocent,' he said in a low and deliberately hollow voice when he had gotten closer to her. 'We'd just gotten rid of Darquesse. She was innocent. What you just did, Wise? That wasn't saving the world. That was murder. You killed an innocent twenty-year-old in cold blood, and you didn't even give her a chance to defend herself.' He started towards her again, his magic ready to gather at his fingertips, to destroy and tear and ruin. 'The only reward you deserve, Larrika Wise, is a quick death- but you're not even going to get that. I'm going to make sure of it.'

Larrika's eyes widened, and she ducked the next fireball that he threw at her. She didn't duck the next one, however, and the panic she felt was evident when she started hopping around, trying to stop her hair from burning off. 'Stop setting me on fire!' she screeched, and this time, she didn't sound smug or threatening. She sounded scared, genuinely scared.

_Good, _Skulduggery thought, and he used the air to knock her off her feet, doing the same to the reflection when it tried to stop him. He turned to it with a hiss and said, 'You're next.'

He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned silently to face Ghastly. 'Skulduggery,' the Elder said quietly. 'Stop.'

Skulduggery only shook his head. 'You know me better than to expect me to just let this go, Ghastly.'

'You can't just _kill_-'

'They didn't have a problem with killing when it came to Valkyrie,' Skulduggery interrupted, his tone biting.

Ghastly looked at him for a long moment, opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He didn't get the chance to say whatever he'd been about to say, because he was interrupted, once again- but not by Skulduggery. Not this time. From behind, there was a cry of surprise, and both Skulduggery and Ghastly turned around to stare at the group that had gathered around Valkyrie's ashes.

They had all stepped away and were staring at the dusk in something that was akin to awe. Skulduggery could see why. Because the dust was moving- and not by a breeze, not by anything that could explain such an occurrence, but... well, by magic. That was the only explanation. It could only be magic that was lifting Valkyrie's scattered remains into the air, letting them swirl prettily and hover together until they resembled nothing but a tall, thin blob.

And then came the voice, Valkyrie's voice, the voice that Skulduggery had never expected to hear again. It sounded strange, like an echo, just a mere shadow of the voice she usually used. But it was hers, and it was there, and it was real. 'Do you know what happens,' asked the voice, 'When you use a God-killer against someone with the power of a God? Someone able to take on the Faceless Ones and win, someone able to destroy an entire room of people with just a flick of her wrist? You kill them, yes, but there's more than that.'

The dust was starting to take more of a shape now, a shape that was unmistakably human, and Skulduggery couldn't quite believe what was happening. It couldn't be. It was supposed to be impossible, even for Darquesse, to bring yourself back from total death. But... what else could explain this phenomenon that was happening before their very eyes? _Only Valkyrie could defy the very rules of nature, _his mind thought dryly as the voice began to speak again.

'You see, all that power, all that glorious magic that the person had in them, it doesn't just disappear. It _can't_. It's a part of them, their very essence, and you can't just cast it away, even if you turn their body to dust. That residual magic, that beautiful, powerful residual magic, lingers- kind of like it did with Skulduggery here.' The shape made by the dust was definitely human, that much was clear. It was starting to change, from ash to something more, to something fuller and more real. Valkyrie was coming back to life. She was returning to them. 'And then, and this is the best part, do you know what that magic does? It brings... them... _back_.'

As the last word was spoken, there was a sudden burst of magic in the air

As soon as the last word was spoken, there was a burst of magic through the air, and then there was a human stood in the place of the pile of dust that had once been.

Valkyrie opened her eyes with a gasp and immediately fell to her knees, panting and clearly worn out. Skulduggery briefly wondered just how much of her magic had been used to bring her back- surely a lot. An awful lot.

This was something that none of them had ever experienced before, something wondrous and, obviously, extremely rare. Valkyrie had just brought herself back from death, probably without even realising it. Had she been aware of her actions, of what her magic was doing for her? _Could _she have been aware? When one had been turned to dust, there was hardly much room for thought- or, really, for any kind of brain function. She had literally been reduced to nothing.

Hesitantly, Skulduggery took a step towards her. She looked up, looked straight at him, then winced and went back to looking down at the ground. Her hand was clutching her chest, her breathing was heavy, and there were beads of sweat rolling down her face. She looked, for lack of a better word, exhausted.

And then she stopped panting, and she looked around at them all, and she smiled. 'That,' she said, her voice returned to its normal state, 'was the coolest thing I've ever done.'

Skulduggery laughed, and suddenly he was being engulfed in a hug. It took him by surprise, and he let out a disgruntled noise of discontent before wrapping his bony arms around Valkyrie. 'Don't ever do something like that again,' he murmured into her ear.

She chuckled. 'What- die, or bring myself back to life?'

'Preferably the first one.'

'I'll try my best,' she said, and then pulled back and turned to the others. She went to Blade first, wrapping him in a hug that was brief but warm. Then she went to Tanith, and to Willow and Hazel and Hades and Maddox, and Ghastly and Erskine and Fletcher. She embraced them all, one by one, and while she did, Skulduggery turned back to Larrika and the reflection, who had both risen to their feet and were staring, Larrika with eyes wide and the reflection with eyes narrowed, at the scene before them.

When she was done exchanging pleasantries, Valkyrie, apparently following the same train of thought as Skulduggery, turned to look at them both. She wasn't smiling any more. Her stare was cold and hostile, and honestly, Skulduggery couldn't blame her. They had, after all, conspired to kill her. And then _actually _killed her.

Darquesse had been removed from her mind, but that had been before she'd died and come back to life. Had things changed now? Had Darquesse returned to Valkyrie? Had the cleansing process even properly worked the first time? Skulduggery wasn't sure he'd ever seen his best friend look quite so angry as she did in that moment.

She started walking towards them both.

****HL****

Valkyrie started towards Larrika and the reflection, her steps slow and deliberate, like a lion sneaking up on its prey. Except she wasn't sneaking up- she was eager to let them know that she was coming for them, happy to see the outright fear in Larrika's eyes, and the unsettling challenge in the reflection's.

'Skulduggery was wrong, you know,' she said. Her voice was soft, quieter than usual, but still, she knew that they all heard it. She looked down at the ground as she spoke, made sure that her face was calm and impassive, as non-threatening as she could make it. When she struck, she wanted to surprise them. She wanted to see the shock in Larrika's eyes as the life faded from them. She wanted the reflection to feel astonishment, since it was so keen on feeling human emotions, as she ripped its spleen from its body. 'Darquesse isn't gone.'

Immediately, Larrika stiffened, and she knew that her friends would also have had similar reactions. The reflection's posture didn't change, but its eyes did narrow further, and Valkyrie resisted the urge to ask it if its eyes were hurting or something. If they weren't, she would offer to make them hurt. It would be fun, she thought, to squeeze its eyeballs out of its face with just her thumbs.

'Well, not exactly,' Valkyrie continued with a dark chuckle. 'It's all very hard to explain, isn't it? This Darquesse business. Is she a separate entity, or is she just a part of me? My bad mood? I think that she _was _a separate entity, before- well, before I tried to get rid of her.' Valkyrie shrugged. 'Ironic, isn't it, that by supposedly removing her from me, we actually just allowed her mind to merge completely with mine? We're not separate entities any more. I am Darquesse. Darquesse is me. I have her power, and her darkness, and her _anger, _but I also have my own mind, my own thoughts. I'm not going to mindlessly slaughter whomever I want, no matter how much I might want to. I'm not going to hurt my family, or my friends.' She took a step forward, a threatening step, and smiled. 'But I'm going to hurt you, Larrika. And you, reflection. I'm going to hurt the both of you, and, God, am I going to enjoy it.'

Valkyrie dodged the shot of light that the reflection threw at her and laughed. 'Is that the best you can do?' she asked mockingly, and when the reflection aimed another beam of light in her direction, Valkyrie reached out and caught in her hand, just second before it collided with her chest. She looked at the pretty light in her hand, all glow-y and yellow, then smiled and threw it back towards the reflection. Its mouth opened in a scream as it hit its arm, and it was like nothing Valkyrie had ever heard before. It was raw and fresh, the scream of a creature that had never felt the need to scream before, and it was delicious. Music to her ears.

The reflection continued to scream its unfamiliar agony as its arm crumbled into dust, dropping to her knees. It obviously wasn't used to feeling this level of pain. It was fascinating to witness something like this, Valkyrie thought, to see a previously emotionless shadow feeling pain for the first time. Truly glorious.

'Valkyrie,' a voice said from behind her, a voice that sounded horrified and just a little bit scared. 'Stop it.'

She turned round to face Blade with a frown. 'Are you kidding?' she asked. 'Blade, they literally just killed me. Like, actually killed me. Are you forgetting that?'

'Valkyrie...' he repeated, looking uncomfortable.

She shook her head. 'Don't act like this isn't justified,' she said to him.

'Murder is never justified,' he said boldly, anger flashing in his eyes. 'Yes, what they did to you was terrible, but that doesn't mean you have to return the favour. Don't stoop to that level, Valkyrie. You even said yourself that you don't have to kill, that Darquesse doesn't control you any more- don't let yourself become like her on your own.'

Valkyrie paused, contemplating this, then rolled her eyes. 'Shut up, Mr. Self-Righteous,' she said with a sneer. 'I don't need you to be my moral compass. I don't need _anyone _to be my moral compass.'

'This isn't you talking,' he said apprehensively, taking a cautious step forward, as if she was going to hurt him. Inwardly, she scoffed at the thought. It wasn't like she was being controlled by Darquesse any more. Sure, she was a little darker, but she was still her. 'It's the power, or the, uh, death, or something. You wouldn't do this if you were in your right mind.'

'Yeah, well, dying is an experience that just changes a person,' she said. She looked over at Skulduggery. 'Don't you think?' With that, she turned back around to face Larrika and the reflection, and she laughed when the shadows she'd gathered wrapped around Larrika's ankle and squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed, cutting into the flesh and bone until-

'_Stop_.' It was Tanith who spoke this time, looking frightened and worried, an expression similar to the one she wore when she first found out about Valkyrie's true name, right before she was possessed by the Remnant. 'Just stop- come back over here, Val, let us take you somewhere to clean up and get your thoughts straight. You don't have to kill these two.' She offered a brief, unconvincing smile. 'We can laugh at them while they rot away in prison later, yeah? Val, just... just... come _on_.'

Valkyrie frowned again, looking between them all, her friends, the people she considered to be her family. 'Why are you all acting like I'm this delicate little vase that's just broken? I'm still _me_- I'm Valkyrie, and I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me. I'm just... extracting a bit of revenge, that's all.' She felt anger stir within her, and she turned an angry eye on Skulduggery, who was observing her silently. 'Surely _you're_ not going to hold that against me, Skulduggery, because that would just be the _height _of hypocrisy.'

He raised his gloved hands in the air. 'I'm not holding anything against you, Valkyrie,' he said in that delightful velvet voice of his. 'Go ahead. Do what you like. See if we care.'

Her brows furrowed. 'What?'

'Do whatever the hell you want, Valkyrie,' he said, sounding like he truly couldn't give less of a damn. 'If it were me, I'd be wanting revenge, too. Hell, I nearly killed them myself for what they did to you. Until you returned to life, started living and breathing, and I realised that it would be much more fun to watch them suffer eternally in a prison cell.' He shrugged. 'But it's your choice, of course.'

Valkyrie took a glance back at the wounded reflection, whom Larrika was currently cowering behind like a scared little child. She looked back to Skulduggery and shook her head. 'I don't understand. You're... you're _letting _me do this?'

'That's the general concept of what I just said, yes.'

She stared at him for the longest time, then sighed. 'It would be fun to see them rot in jail,' she said contemplatively. 'But... God, it'd be _so _much more fun to see them die.' She whirled around and, in a flash, had turned the reflection into dust. She wished she could have given it a more painful death, but she had the feeling that the others were going to try and stop her as quickly as possible, so there just wasn't enough time to make the pair of idiots who had killed her suffer.

She pulled back her hand, readied another beam of power with which to eradicate Larrika, but was annoyed to feel a hand on hers, capturing the light and putting it out in her palm. She turned to Hades, annoyed. 'Let go of me,' she hissed.

He didn't look afraid as he met her gaze, shook his head determinedly. Instead, his bright green eyes held a challenge, as if daring her to throw him off, to hurt him. She readied a punch to throw at him, but then hesitated. She really didn't want to hurt any of her friends if she could help it. And, she supposed, they were just trying to stop her from doing something that she'd regret... however, the problem with that was that she _wasn't_ going to regret it, not one bit. She was sure of that, so completely positive.

'Hades,' she said through gritted teeth. 'Let go of my hand right now, or I swear to God-'

'You'll what?' he asked, raising an eyebrow. 'Hurt me? Go ahead, Val. I dare you.'

She shook her head. 'I already told you, I don't want to hurt you- any of you,' she added, looking back at the others. 'Just, please...' She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling resigned, weary. _Weak_. She didn't like the feeling, but she couldn't help but let it consume her. 'Let me do this. Please.'

'You're angry, Val,' Blade said softly, stepping forward. 'We know. We understand that.'

'We'd be angry too, if we'd just been killed,' Willow chimed in, offering Valkyrie a reluctant but genuine smile. 'But you need to stop this now.'

'Enough is enough,' Hazel said with a nod.

'Yeah,' Maddox said, rubbing the back of his head. 'We've already watched one person die tonight.' He hesitated. 'Well, two, now. We don't want to watch another.'

Slowly, Hades let go of her hand. The light wasn't there any more- Valkyrie had released it, let the magic flow back into her body and settle, ready to be used another day. She took a deep breath and then released it. 'Wow,' she said after a moment. 'You guys should write a handbook on How To Calm Down Psychopaths.'

They stared at her. And then they broke into laughter, Valkyrie joining in after a moment, trying to push aside all of the residual feelings of anger inside her chest. She could release that anger in other ways, later, or at least learn how to control it. She glanced at Skulduggery, whose eyes she could feel locked on her, and she fixed him with an apologetic smile. He tipped his hat at her in return, and she rolled her eyes before turning to Blade and offering a smile that she hoped looked a little more sultry. Ignoring the fact that they were surrounded by people, and that it probably wasn't an appropriate time for something like this, she grabbed him by the collar and practically smashed her face into his, crushing their lips together in a fierce kiss that both participants seemed reluctant to part from.

Tanith cleared her throat, once, twice, then rolled her eyes and muttered something before grabbing them both and pulling them away from each other. 'There's time for that later,' she said chatisingly, but there was a glint of amusement in her eyes, and Valkyrie laughed and hugged her friend once again.

For once, it looked like everything was going to be okay. Sure, there was a part of Valkyrie's soul that was dark and tainted and intent on murdering people, but she could live with that. She'd had to for the past four years, after all- why stop now? And besides, it would certainly be easier to handle, now that she was no longer being controlled by her own thoughts. And, besides the reflection, no one had died. That counted as a victory, didn't it? Sure, she would have to explain to her parents why she was no longer going to be around the house, like, at all, but that seemed easy in comparison with having to live with a reflection that was totally off the rails.

They'd won. They'd actually won, without any casualties. Her eyes glanced to Larrika, who was knelt on the floor, still looking terrified. Without any _major _casualties, she amended with a small frown. Larrika Wise- what was to be done with the Seer who had too much power for her own good? They still needed to question her on that, she realised- on where the hell she'd gotten those powers. Valkyrie suspected that Larrika would spend the rest of her life in a jail cell, for the attempted murder of a Sanctuary agent, but that just didn't feel like enough to her. She was never going to forget what it felt like to die, to actually _stop living_, and the pain that she had felt upon being brought back by her magic. The nightmares given to her by Darquesse were gone, yes, but she had a feeling that the nightmares that these particular memories would bring her would remain for a long time. Her eyes narrowed, but then she sighed and looked away from Larrika. Maybe it was her newfound anger talking. Jail would be a perfectly fine punishment for Larrika, she supposed. It wasn't like life in a Sanctuary cell was going to be any fun for her, especially when the aging process started for her. And Valkyrie would probably get to pay regular visits...

She shook those thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about all of that, anyway. Now was a time to celebrate. She hadn't died. No one had died. Darquesse was, for the most part, gone, and now Valkyrie had all of this extra power at her fingertips. Yeah, maybe everything wouldn't turn out so badly after all. She could stay in Ireland with her friends, let anyone who wanted to return to America do so, and arrange regular trips to meet with those people. Staying here didn't necessarily mean she'd have to wave goodbye to her new friends, did it? They'd find a way around it, like they somehow managed to find a way around everything.

Valkyrie smiled to herself. For once in her chaotic excuse for a life, she felt happy, truly happy. She had her boyfriend, her mentor and her best friends to keep her occupied, as well as her job as a Sanctuary detective, and all the adventures she was bound to have.

_Yeah, _she thought, and she nodded. _Everything's going to be all right. _

**A/N: Okay, so you know how I said there'd be an epilogue?  
>… I lied. Things in this chapter didn't work out the way I'd planned them to- the ending was much happier than I wanted it to be, but this is just what happened. So... so this is the end of the story that I've spent two years of my life writing.<br>Excuse me for a moment- I'm not crying, there's just an LSODM cover in my eye.  
>This is goodbye. I want to thank you all for reading this story, with extra thanks to everyone who has reviewed or favourited or subscribed, and to anyone who is about to do so now. Although there'd be little point subscribing to a completed story, so don't be a moron and do that.<br>Do you think I'm being a little melodramatic here? Huh, me too. Oh, well. I'm emotional.  
>Again, goodbye, and thanks so much for giving this story a chance. It's been fun.<br>-Heather. **


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